


Deadly Sins

by plokishmok3



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Demon, Demonic Horror, Demonic Possession, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Fear, Gen, Horror, Psychological Horror, Seven Deadly Sins, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-17
Updated: 2018-11-17
Packaged: 2019-08-24 17:34:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 30,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16644701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plokishmok3/pseuds/plokishmok3
Summary: Leo, Raph, Donnie, Mikey, Splinter, Casey, and April are headed to April's uncle's mansion out in the country for a mini-vacation. In a world where mutants are struggling to assimilate into the human world, Reverend Rimmon is a renowned pro-mutant preacher looking to get to know the turtles and Splinter a little better for his cause. Despite the reverend's pleasantries, Leonardo, and his brothers, start to grow suspicious of their host and his intentions, suspicions that come to fruition in the middle of a stormy night beyond the hidden door leading to the basement...





	Deadly Sins

Leo slowly inched himself along the stone siding of a towering skyscraper, eventually coming to the stop at the corner edge. He held his arm up as an indication to his to his brothers behind him to wait for his signal. Though the moon shone brightly overhead, the turtles were shrouded by shadows as Leo looked down at the dark alley below them. Several dumpsters and garbage cans lined the walls, a common sight for any alley in the city, but what was more of interest was the large, steel garage door at the far end of the alley and the stream of light piercing out from its edges.

The turtles had gotten wind that it was this nondescript alley that was being converted into a new base of operations for the Purple Dragons. Having forcibly disbanded the group of thugs not long ago, the turtles were not keen in the gang reestablishing a footing in the city, hence their mission now. While they didn’t normally go on destructive missions, they all agreed including Master Splinter, that interfering with their reorganization was of grave importance for the safety of not just the neighborhood, but the broader city and its citizens. They had a duty to do this and at that moment, they were focused and ready.

On Leo’s command, the turtles jumped down into the alley, landing with a quartet of soft thuds all the while keeping their eyes trained on the garage door itself. There was no movement. There was no commotion. There was nothing. Leo took a cautious step forward when suddenly a beacon of light suddenly flashed on with an electric hiss, illuminating and subsequently blinding the turtles. Leo shielded his eyes but turned around as he heard a metallic clank behind him. To his horror he saw that a large, gate that stretched skyward nearly five stories had swung along the entrance of the alley, blocking off the light from the street lamps and trapping the brothers between the two towering buildings. _Shit, it’s a trap!_ Leo thought as the alley darkened even further as a series of dark, stormy clouds suddenly filled the sky. Leo hopped back around to face the utter darkness beyond the beacon of light, pulling his katanas free and assumed his battle stance.  

“Get in position!” Leo called over his shoulder, but as he glanced back, he saw a set of shadowy arms reach out from the blackness and wrap around Mikey’s arms and legs. Mikey let out a scream as he was pulled into the darkness.

“Mikey!” Leo called as he turned to rush toward his brother and his assailants but found he couldn’t move. Despite his straining muscles, his feet were anchored in place. Leo looked down in frustration but saw no adhesive or contraption holding him back. Confused, he looked up just in time to see another set of gnarly hands grab Donnie and pull him into the blackness.

“Donnie!” Leo called, his anger swiftly turning to fear. He tried to reach down to wrench his feet free with his hands but his arms wouldn’t move. He was frozen. All he could do was watch. He watched frantically as Raph slowly turned in circles as the pool of light slowly began to shrink, his brow furrowed and his sais at the ready. Soon the beam of light was barely wide enough to bath Leo and Raph in its piercing glow.  

“Raph! Look out!” Leo tried to shout but the words caught in his throat as a dozen hands reached down from the inky blackness above Raph. They wrapped around Raph’s arms as he tried to swing his sais at the bony appendages, but he found himself quickly immobilized. After a few seconds of writhing, Raph suddenly froze and turned toward Leo, catching his brother’s eye. Though the turtle didn’t say a word, Leo could see the hurt and disappointment in his eyes: why wasn’t Leo trying to save him? In the next moment, Raph was pulled up and out of sight with a fading scream.

“Raph!” Leo said, his voice suddenly returning. “Mikey! Donnie!” He called as his brothers’ distant screams of agony and struggle echoed about him. The beam of light continued to shrink until it merely surrounded Leo. At that moment, Leo felt the invisible hold around his frame release as he stumbled forward, the light following his movement.

“Mikey! Donnie! Raph!” Leo called again as he stumbled around, holding his katanas out as he searched the inky blackness before him. He couldn’t see anything in the shadows: not the attackers, not the dumpsters, not the buildings, not even the source of the light beaming down on him. It was silent save for the sound of his heavy breath and his pulse pounding in his ear. Leo ran to the right trying to find the wall of the alley to get his bearings but he found no such barrier; it was as if the alley had simply vanished. Everything had vanished. His brothers had vanished. He was alone surrounded by utter emptiness and it was his fault. His inaction. He had done nothing. Leo doubled over, clutching his stomach and the hollow ache of guilt that seemed to be tearing it apart.   

“Help us,” Mikey’s voice suddenly whispered to Leo’s right, causing Leo to jolt. Mikey sounded oddly calm and though Leo jumped toward the sound of his brother’s voice, all he found was empty space: pure nothingness.

“Mikey!” Leo said. “Where are you?”

“You could have saved us,” Raph’s voice echoed behind Leo, causing the blue-banded turtle to whip around.

“I couldn’t,” Leo said his voice exasperated as he lunged forward to find only air.

"Why didn’t you save us?” Donnie’s voice asked directly in front of Leo.

“You didn’t act,” Raph voice said to Leo’s right.

“You did nothing,” Mikey’s voice said. A tear welled up in the corner of Leo’s eye as he spun in circles trying to follow the swirling voice around him.

“You let them take us,” Raph said.

“I tried!” Leo cried into the darkness.

“You did nothing,” Donnie said. Leo collapsed to his knees, letting his katana’s clatter to the ground. Leo looked up and saw the faint outlines of his brothers slowly materialize around him. He was about to jump to hug them, but then he noticed their dark, soulless eyes. Their figures seemed to tower over him, their images warping and fizzling like the end of one of his worn out Space Hero’s VHS tapes.

“Some leader you are,” Mikey said.

“Some brother you are,” Raph said.

“You froze,” Donnie said.

“You did nothing!” Raph screamed causing Leo to clutch his head in his hands, not so much as to protect his ears but to drown out his brothers’ condemnations.

“I tried,” Leo whispered under his breath again.

“You did nothing!” Mikey, Raph, and Donnie said in unison as ghostly copies of themselves began to materialize behind them.

“You could have saved us.”

“You should have saved us.”

“You did nothing!” The cacophony of voices rang in Leo’s ears no matter how hard he pressed his hands into the side of his head. Eventually, Leo couldn’t even pick out individual words or phrases. Just the anger. The hurt. The pain. The disappointment. The shame. His shame. The guilt. His guilt. The failure. His failure, pounding into his skull like a molten hammer against a stubborn nail.

“I tried!” Leo shouted.

“YOU DID NOTHING!” Leo suddenly shot up in bed sending his covers cascading down onto the floor. His chest was heaving as his wide eyes darted anxiously about the darkness of his room, panicked. Sweat was dripping from his forehead as his heart pounded in his chest. Thu-thump. It was okay. Thu-thump. It was just a dream. Thu-thump. His brothers were okay. Thu-thump. But it was that dream again… He had frozen. They were taken. He was left alone. It was his fault. He had done nothing.

Panic pooled over Leo’s body like a viscous sludge, pressing down on his limbs and torso. His body felt heavy, like… he… was… locking… up.

Leo closed his eyes and focused on his breath. He concentrated and began to mouth a calming mantra that Master Splinter had taught him as a young kid. Gradually, the weight seemed to lift as the adrenaline fizzled from his blood, his heart downshifted, and his breathing slowed to a relaxing huff. Leo opened his eyes and turned toward his alarm clock: 3:35 am. It was early, even for Leo. With a sigh, Leo lowered himself back down onto his pillow and reached over the edge of the bed for his covers. Though his body was calm, Leo’s mind continued to race as it usually did after one of these episodes; after the nightmare. Leo stared at the ceiling, hoping sleep would come and calm his mind. Two hours later, though, after no such luck, Leo slipped out of bed and wandered to the kitchen to start the morning coffee and tea.

~~~~~

“Is there any coffee left?” Donnie asked as he sauntered into the kitchen.

“Sorry, Don,” Leo said, raising the half-filled mug in his hand. “I grabbed the last of it. I can make you so more.”

“No that’s okay,” Donnie said. “I know how I like it.” Leo watched as Donnie crammed as many coffee grounds into the white filter as possible before stuffing it into the aging coffee maker; the purple-banded turtle liked his morning libation iron-strong. “Since when do you take coffee over tea?” Donnie asked.

“I needed the extra boost today,” Leo said.

“Trouble sleeping?” Donnie said, noticing the bags under Leo’s eyes.  

“Yeah.”

“Nervous about the trip today?”

“A little,” Leo said before lowering his voice. “But not as much as Master Splinter. He’s already drank two whole kettles of tea.” Leo motioned toward the dining room table where Master Splinter and Raph were seated. While Raph was quietly munching away on some cereal, flipping through one of his comics, he occasional stole a glance toward their father, picking up the cues that Leo and Donnie were seeing themselves. Master Splinter was sitting straight up in his seat as he held his steaming ceramic cup in his paws. Though a day-old newspaper was sprawled out in front of him, he ignored it as he stared straight forward into space, his mind deep in thought. He was trying to seem composed but the turtles had known their father long enough to know when he was anxious; he looked uncomfortably calm.

“It’s almost as bad as the day he let us venture out of the sewers for the first time,” Donnie said.

“I’d say even worse,” Leo countered.

“What’s he so worried about, we’ve been topside thousands of times.”

“ _He_ hasn’t been topside a thousand times.”

“But it’s not like he hasn’t been before.”

“The only times he’s left the lair have been to save us, not for some reactional outing,” Leo said.

“But now is as good a time as ever to do it. Mutants are starting to assimilate into society. It’s not like it was a few years ago when we had to hide in the shadows at every moment of every day. I mean, I walked to April’s house last week in the daylight on the sidewalk with everyone else about with no issues…” Leo pulled Donnie around.

“Shhh!” Leo said, peering over his shoulder toward Splinter again. “You know Sensei doesn’t like it when we go out of the sewers on our own!”

“I don’t see why he doesn’t. Times are changing. People are starting to accept us for who we and other mutants are.”

“Not everyone,” Leo and Donnie saw a pained look flash across their father’s face for a second before he raised his cup of tea to his lips. “It’s those angry, violent, anti-mutantists that Splinter sees on the news every night that he fears.”

“Well, luckily for him, we aren’t going to be parading around the city looking to get tarred and feathered or whatever absurd thing he’s afraid of. April’s uncle’s estate is out in the country. The only humans that are going to be there are April, her uncle, and, ugh, Casey. It’s basically a family vacation!”

“A trip to the middle of nowhere with a guy that we don’t even know,” Leo tempered.

“Don’t even know? It’s April’s uncle, Reverend Rimmon. He operates the largest pro-mutant church in the state! It’s one of the reasons that April invited us along when she goes to visit him. She said he was more than excited to host us for as long as we want! And I don’t know about you, but I could use a break.” Donnie grabbed a mug from the cupboard and filled his cup before taking a long sip.

“I guess it’ll be nice to get away from the lair and the city for a few days,” Leo said. Donnie said as a long smile spread across his face.

“A whole week with April…” Donnie muttered wistfully.

“Oh boy,” Leo said, rolling his eyes.  

“What?” Donnie sputtered. “Am I not allowed to enjoy the company of our friend?”

“You know she and Casey are dating right?”

“I know that,” Donnie grumbled. “Doesn’t mean that I can’t dream.”

“Yo!” a voice called from across the lair, causing all heads to turn to see Mikey standing in the hall entranceway where a set of oversized sunglasses. “Vacation Mikey is here and ready to part-ay!”

“Some of us are trying to eat!” Raph shouted, turning back to his cereal and comics. Mikey quickly bounded across the room.

“Excuse me bros,” Mike said as he waltzed between Donnie and Leo to grab a bowl from the cupboard before heading toward the dining room table. He grabbed the box of cereal sitting in front of Raph and poured himself a heaping bowl.

“Hey, don’t eat all of my Fruit Loops!” Raph said, trying to grab the box from Mikey’s hand, but Mikey simply twisted his body to the side.

“I’m hungry,” Mikey said.

“You don’t need half the box!” Raph cried, eventually wrestling the box free. He peered inside to see that only a handful of the artificially colored rings remained. He turned back to Mikey, his brow furrowed, but Mikey had already poured his milk and was cramming a half dozen spoonfuls into his mouth in rapid succession. Raph glared at Mikey whose cheeks puffed out either side of his face as he chewed.

“Whuffph?” Mikey asked through his full mouth.

“Michelangelo, don’t talk with your mouth full!” Splinter chastised. Mikey swallowed with a pair of hearty gulps.

“Sorry,” the orange-banded turtle said before quickly spooning another three bites into his mouth.

“How does he eat so fast?” Leo asked as not a minute later, Mikey’s bowl was empty and he was grabbing the box of cereal from Raph’s hand again to polish off the remaining pieces.

“The better question is where does he put it all?” Donnie said.

“Mikey!” Raph shouted as he hopped up from his chair. He rushed toward Mikey to pummel his brother, but Mikey quickly got up with his bowl and rushed around the couch. Raph made chase, reaching with his arms and just barely grazing Mikey’s shell as the orange-banded turtle veered to the right and looped back around toward the dining room table again. As Raph pursued, he knocked into the corner of the table, causing the tea in Splinter’s cup to splash over his hands.  

“Raphael!” Splinter shouted, causing Raph to stop in his tracks. He turned to face Splinter, both his fists and jaws clenched.

“You must not be so quick to anger,” Splinter said, drying his paws off on the side of his robe.

“But he just ate all of my cereal, Sensei!” Raph retorted, turning over his shoulder to see Mikey tip his bowl into his mouth as he drained the last of his breakfast.

 “We need to be on our best behavior as guests at April’s uncle’s home, no matter how irritated we may be,” Splinter said calmly. Raph averted his eyes and stubbornly nodded his head with an angry huff.

“I’m gonna grab my bag,” he grumbled before marching off to his room as Mikey lowered the now empty bowl and licked his lips.

“Mmmm those were good, do we have any more?” Mikey rushed into the kitchen and grabbed another box of cereal from the cupboard.

“Michelangelo!” Splinter called again, causing Mikey to pause as cereal poured out of the box and into his bowl. “Must you eat us out of house and home?”

“But I’m still hungry,” Mikey whined. Splinter simply sighed and took another sip of his teeth. Mikey finished pouring his bowl and began to chow down on a heaping helping of Lucky Charms.

“You know,” Leo said, tapping Donnie on the shoulder, “you better grab something before iron-stomach here eats everything.”

“Fair point,” Donnie said. As he grabbed his own bowl from the cupboard and tried to wrangle to cereal box from Mikey. Leo walked over to Splinter and put a comforting hand on his back. Leo could feel the tension in his father’s shoulders, but still, Splinter turned and gave him a smile.

“I don’t know how you boys do it,” Splinter muttered.

“Do what?” Leo asked.

“Go up into the human world.”

“You’ve been there before,” Leo assured. “You grew up in Japan.”

“Yes, but things are different now.” Splinter looked solemnly down at his paws.

“Hey guys, we need to get moving. We’re supposed to meet April and Casey at nine!” Donnie called across the room as he dumped his dish into the sink. “That means no more cereal,” Donnie grabbed Mikey’s bowl from him before he poured himself another round. Leo felt Splinter tense once again.

“Come on, Sensei,” Leo said, coaxing Splinter to his feet.

“Maybe I should stay behind,” Splinter said, “to make sure the lair is safe while you four are away.”

“The lair will be fine,” Donnie said. “I’ve already checked. All of the security systems are in working order. Once we lock down, not even the Krang could break in here.”

“This is a family vacation,” Leo reminded his father. “That includes you too.”

“Yeah, Sensei!” Mikey said, rushing over to grab Splinter’s other arm, pushing Leo out of the way as he dragged Splinter toward the entrance. At that moment, Leo could see a warm smile crack the façade on his father’s fearful face; Mikey had that way with people even if at times his personality bordered into annoyance. Leo looked to his left to see Raph emerging from the hallway with his duffel bag slung over his shoulder and his face pouting. Turning to the right, Leo saw Donnie with a dazed, love-struck look splattered across his face as he poured himself another cup of coffee and subsequently overfilled said cup, sending hot coffee streaming over his hand and onto his feet. As Donnie yelped, cursed, and went to grab a towel, Leo couldn’t help but chuckle as he gazed upon his family; his source of life. Sure, they each had their quirks, but that’s what made Raph, Raph, Donnie, Donnie, Mikey, Mikey, and Sensei, Sensei. Leo closed his eyes as a sense of comfort and safety filled the hole in his heart that had been lingering all morning. He didn’t know what he’d do without them.

~~~~~

“This place is awesome!” Mikey shouted as he veered off to examine a large marble statue that lined the stone pathway. The stony figure was stood erect holding a stone sword perched on the ground. Mikey ran his hands over the intricately patterned shall and the squared helmet perched on top of the towering figure’s head.

“I told you guys this place was awesome!” April said as Donnie rushed over to join Mikey.

“This is a perfect rendition of a crusader from 12th Century Germany,” Donnie marveled as everyone paused to humor the purple-banded turtle. “Just look at the detail of the headpiece.”  

“Just looks like a cross to me,” Casey huffed.

“That’s because it is, nimrod,” Donnie retorted. “The Crusades was one of bloodiest religious wars in the Mediterranean. It lasted for centuries!”

“Why does your uncle have so many statues?” Leo asked, motioning toward a depiction of the Virgin Mary sat in the middle of a large, bubbling fountain.

“And why so many religious ones?” Casey asked.

“I told you guys, my uncle is a reverend,” April said.

“This isn’t a church,” Raph said. “It’s his house.” 

“He’s, uh,” April said, trying to find the right words, “very devote.”

“And wealthy,” Raph said, “just look at this place!” They could barely see the Shellrazer they had parked in the gravel driveway as they wandered along the far end of the long marble pathway they were on toward the front of the towering mansion before them. Rolling gardens, fountains, and hedges sprawled out to either side of them, making every direction they looked truly a spectacle to behold.

“This place is beautiful,” Splinter marveled, holding out his hand to catch a falling apple bud from a flowering tree drooping over the path. Leo smiled; his father seemed to be relaxing after his rigid exit from the Shellrazer.

“Whoa, what about that one!” Raph exclaimed, pointing further up the path toward a large statue set on top of a large marble base. There were three figures present, one dressed in a coned, brimmed hat, and a draped tunic over holding a long sharp rod on the left and two figures tied and mounted onto two large pillars. mounted on two large pillars. Though it was hard to tell, at the base of the pillars were what appeared to be smoldering logs.

“Why is that guy,” Mikey asked, pointing to the standing figure, “stabbing the other with that rod?”

“It appeared to be a physical portrayal of a famous painting called the Execution of David van der Leyen,” Donnie said. “These two are being burned at the stake for being Mennonites, a new demonization of Christianity at the time in sixteenth-century Europe. In the painting, David van der Leyens in the front there was not quite dead so this man, a supposed true follower of God, is goring him to death all while David maintains his own supposed faith to the Almighty.”

“How do you know that?” Mikey asked.

“I read,” Donnie replied. “You should try it sometime.”

“Whoa, that’s so metal!” Casey said.

“Harrowing is the word I would use,” Donnie said. “Both sides here believe they are right. Either you are proud to die in the face of an oppressive force while seeking a higher truth or you are justly doing away with infectious neighsayers that speak falsely about the very God that lays claim to your eternal soul. Just depends on how you look at it.”

“I’ll take the side of the guy with the jabby-thing,” Casey said, thrusting his arm forward a few times in front of April who did not look impressed.

“You’re lucky I like you,” she said. “Wait, Casey,” April said, grabbing Casey’s outstretched arm. “What is that?” She pointed toward a gold bracelet that had popped out from beneath his fingerless gloves. Though the bracelet was thin, the etchings of lions and tigers woven into the piece of jewelry were distinct.

“I, uh, found it,” Casey said.

“You found it?” April said, incredulous. “Where?”

“On the ground, somewhere, I don’t know.”

“You just so happen to find a golden bracelet with lions and tigers on it after we just wrestled a purse full of the exact same jewelry away from a pair of Purple Dragon wannabes for an old, toothless woman on Spring Street last week?”

“Uh,” Casey said, at a loss for words.

“Casey!” April yelled.

“What? After we gave the purse back, I found the bracelet on the ground. It must have been knocked loose during the fight.”

“And you didn’t think to return it?”

“At that point, it’s finders keepers,” Casey said. “Besides, it’s like a tip for saving the rest of her junky gold rings and whatever!”

“You don’t just get to take things that aren’t yours!” April said, turning around. “I don’t even know why I invited you!” April stomped away followed closely by Donnie who gave Casey a similar glare before going to comfort April. Casey then felt a tail wrap around his leg before he was whipped around to find himself standing in front of Splinter.

“Mr. Casey Jones,” Splinter said in a harsh though hushed voice. “You will remove the bracelet and when we return home, you will track down that woman and return it.”

“But it’s mine…” Casey tried to protest before feeling the grip around his leg tighten.

“You will return the bracelet!” Splinter said, raising his voice slightly.

“Yes Master Sensei, sir!” Casey sputtered as the rat tail around his leg loosened and Splinter brushed by him. Casey looked down at his bracelet for a second before simply tucking it back under his glove.

“Casey, hurry up!” Mikey called as everyone gathered that the front steps of the mansion. They all stayed back as April strode forward to knock on the broad front door. They stood in silence for a few seconds before they heard the sound of heavy approaching footsteps.

“Who’s there?” A gruff voice said from behind the door.

“It’s, uh, April,” April said sheepishly.

“April who?” The curt voice asked.

“April O’Neil. I’m here to see my uncle Reverend Rimmon. He’s expecting us,” April said.

“Oh is that April and her friends?” a softer, more jovial voice called from within. After the sound of a half dozen locks rung in the air, the door slowly opened. Behind the door was a tall, smiling navy blue suit-clad man. “April?” he asked.

“Uncle Rimmy!” April exclaimed as the two stepped forward for a hug.

“Awww,” Mikey said, clasping his hands in front of his chest. Meanwhile, Leo was noticed the pair of enormous, bald, sunglass-wearing bodyguards standing just inside the doorway behind the reverend.

“I haven’t seen you since you were only this big,” Reverend Rimmon said holding his hand down by his knees.

“It’s been too long,” April concurred.

“Well thank the Lord Almighty that we’ve been brought back together, it truly is a glorious day,” the reverend said before turning his attention to the crowd behind his niece. “And you all must be April’s friends!” Leo saw the reverend lay eyes on Splinter, and instead of stepping forward, Leo saw his father hesitate. Leo was about to step forward himself, but Mikey beat him to the punch.

“Michelangelo,” Mikey said with a posh tone as he stuck his nose in the air. “I’m sure you’ll find that I’m the smart one of the bunch.”  

“Mikey!” Raph shouted.

“What, ah!” Mikey shrieked as Raph stepped up, pushing Mikey out of the way.

“Call me Raph,” Raph said.

“A pleasure to meet you,” Reverend Rimmon said before greeting Donnie, Casey, and Leo. As each of the turtles stepped up, Leo noticed Splinter keeping a close eye on them, though not in a protectionist manner; as if he was looking for guidance. When Splinter saw Reverend Rimmon turned his attention toward him, he stepped forward though Leo could see the tip of his father’s tail trembling.

“A pleasure to meet you,” Reverend Rimmon said with a warm smile.

“Thank you for having us in your home,” Splinter replied with a head nod.

“Welcome one and all. Please, come in!” The reverend stepped out of the doorway and ushered the crew inside. While Casey and Mikey rushed in like children rushing to the living room on Christmas morning, Leo hung back, pulling up the rear. He watched each of his brothers, father, and friends walk by Reverend Rimmon and his inviting smile without a care in the world. Leo noticed that the reverend’s eye seemed to linger on his brother and father, which was no surprise to him; they were likely the first mutants that the reverend had met. As he walked by Reverend Rimmon himself, Leo met the reverend’s eyes and felt a slight chill run down his spine. Though his smile was warm there was something cold about his stare as if it were piercing his very soul; judging him. Leo tried to shake the though free as he turned his attention to the spectacular entranceway for the reverend’s home.

Before him was a long, lavish hallway that seemed to stretch all the way to the far side of the building. A double, curving staircase with winding wooden balusters lined either all that lead to a second story balcony that not only wrapped around the long walls of the room but ran back along the entire length of the room toward an identical set of staircases at the opposite end of the central hall. The center of the balcony was open, making the space feel more like the lobby of a lavish hotel with a large bowing ceiling lined with intricate chandeliers that bathed the room with a warm glow than someone’s home. Crimson red carpets lined the dark wood floors while the walls were half polished wood on the bottom and while the upper half consisted of a sleek, off-white paint job that was mostly covered by a series of large, Renaissance paintings and Victorian-era portraits. Pedestals of stone, roman and Victorian busts lined the walls and Leo could even see a suit of armor mounted on a platform down the hall.

“This is the fanciest place I’ve ever seen in my entire life,” Mikey said flatly as he stood awestruck in the middle of the floor.

“I thought you religious folk were supposed to live humbly or something,” Raph said, warranting a hard shove from Leo.

“Well, I wasn’t always some religious folk,” Reverend Rimmon chuckled. “I won’t bore you with the details, but for many years, I worked at a large investment firm where I had some success in mergers and acquisitions. Then, about seven years ago, I was driving home in the middle of a thunderstorm late at night. The rain was coming down so hard that my windshield wipers might as well have been made of toothpicks.” Everyone started to gather around the reverend, captivated by his story. “Fortunately, I had driven that room a thousand times and knew where every turn and corner was, what I didn’t expect, was a bolt of lightning to strike a tree up the road ahead of me. Blinded by the light, I didn’t see the tree split in two and as I drove by, the massive trunk fell directly onto my car, crushing me inside. I was trapped. My legs were pinned beneath the dashboard. My body wedged between the car’s crumpled frame. The rain pounded against my body as blood seeped into my eyes.”

“At that moment, I knew I was staring death right in the face and I realized that while I had become a master of negotiation and making deals, the only deal I didn’t have was with my eternal soul; I was petrified. It was at that moment as if my fear had called forth to the world above, that a single beam of light pierced through the black clouds overhead. I immediately knew this was the light of God.”

“How do you know? Did you ask?” Mikey asked as Donnie hit him in the back of the head.

“Don’t interrupt!” Donnie scolded.

“No, I didn’t, my turtle friend,” the reverend said. “Sometimes you just know. I told him that I would accept him into my heart if he would set me free and give me a second chance, to let me live just another blessed day, but he said that wasn’t enough. He said that I had a unique set of skills and resources and that if he were to give me a second chance, I would need to take on the ultimate responsibility: to spread his new gospel. He said that many of his followers had strayed from his word and that I was the one that would set them on the right path again: the path of Rimmonism. I was to open a new church, the Church of Rimmon, to spread this word to every wanting ear that would listen. And you do you know what I did? I took his offer. I accepted the Lord in his all-powerful glory and his divine plan for me. My heart was instantly filled with the burning heat of the Lord’s love and guidance and not two seconds later, the headlights of another car appeared and I was saved from eternal damnation!”

“As soon as my body was well and out of the hospital, I quit my job for my new spiritual pursuit. Construction on my first church began less than a month later and within four months I was preaching the Lord’s new gospel to the masses, one of acceptance and love for all of God’s creations.” Reverend Rimmon motioned toward the turtles and Splinter.

“Where’d you get this new gospel?” Donnie asked, trying to hide his skepticism as respectfully as possible.

“I am both blessed and humbled that because of my important position that I am able to speak directly with the Lord himself. Thus, I can convey his will to my congregations so we can all live out eternity basking in his glory in heaven above while the sinful, the blasphemers, and the heathens who reject God from their physical and metaphysical beings all rot and burn in the blazing pits of an eternal, black hell.” Seemingly instantaneously, the reverend’s once joyful face had contorted into a fierce, snarling epitome of wrath causing everyone to jump back slightly. A moment later, Reverend Rimmon’s face relaxed back to his charismatic smile as he clasped his hands together. “Anyway, enough about me. This little get together is about all of you. I look forward to getting to know each and everyone one of you,” Reverend Rimmon paused, “personally. Without further ado, let me show you to your respective accommodations. You must be weary from your travels.”

The reverend strode forward, quickly followed by his two bodyguards, and toward the staircase, as everyone followed, their heads on swivels as they took in all the minute details of the decor strewn about. Casey paused at the bottom of the stairs to examine a series of clay pots. They were clearly old, with several cracks running along their bases and faded markings that must have once been intricate artistic designs. Instinctively, Casey reached for the smallest pot which was barely the size of a salt shaker; pocket-sized. Just as he was about to wrap his fingers around his prize, he felt a hand grab his wrist and yank him away.

 “I was just looking!” Casey protested.

“Come on, Casey!” April grunted as she lugged Casey to the second floor to join the rest of the group.

“Ah, there you are!” Reverend Rimmon said as the pair emerged on the side balcony. The reverend motioned to an open door. “Here we have your two’s room. Please, relax and settle in. We can all convene in the dining room for dinner at six.” 

“Thanks, Uncle Rimmon!” April said, giving her uncle a hug.

“The pleasure is all mine,” Reverend Rimmon said as April pulled Casey inside and shut the door. As the crew continued down the walkway, Leo and Raph, who were walking in the back, could hear Casey getting an earful from their red-headed friend.

“Oh man,” Raph chuckled. “He’s getting railed!”

“It’s not like he doesn’t deserve it,” Leo smirked.

“He always deserves a scolding,” Raph said. “No matter how nice of a place that scolding takes place in…“ Raph’s voice trailed off as he paused and turned his attention to a painting on the wall. He stopped so abruptly that Leo bumped into his shoulder and stumbled. Leo was about to shove Raph back, but he too turned his attention to the painting. What drew his eye first was the large, steaming cauldron in the middle of the piece, though it was more the anguished faces of the people in the water seemingly boiling alive that truly captivated him. Beside the cauldron was a large red throne occupied by a disfigured demon who appeared to be supervising the torture as well as a trio of naked females dangling over a smoldering pot of hot coals. Throughout the piece were images of demonic figures torturing the bodies and souls of nameless figures. It was a truly harrowing piece.

“Inferno by Mestre Desconhecido,” Donnie said, suddenly appearing behind the duo, causing Leo to jump.

“Do you just know every painting in existence?” Raph asked.

“No, this one has a label,” Donnie said, pointing to a plaque at the bottom of the painting.

“Why would someone want this hanging up in their house?” Leo floated.

“Only someone fucked up in the head,” Raph said nonchalantly before seeing Leo’s shocked face motioning toward Reverend Rimmon showing Splinter his room down the hall. “What?”

“Lots of people appreciate visceral art like this,” Donnie said. “Sorry that not everyone wants to hang up posters of monster trucks or Muhammad Ali.”

“Hey, sorry I’m not a pretentious snob! And I seem to recall you fighting me for those Ali posters,” Raph countered.

“Just the one where he’s standing over Sonny Liston,” Donnie said. “You don’t understand the history and controversy behind that moment, you just think it looks cool.”

“Am I wrong, Brainiac?” Raph asked, fronting up to Donnie.

“Hey, cut it out you two,” Leo said, stepping in between them. “We’re on vacation. You know, where you’re supposed to relax and not fight with each other every two minutes.”

“I don’t know how much relaxing I’m going to do knowing that everywhere where I turn there is going to be stuff like staring me down.”

“They’re just paintings, they aren’t going to hurt you,” Donnie mocked.

“It’s not the paintings I wary off, it’s this reverend guy. Anyone that nice and bubbly that has depraved art and shit like this around is bad news in my book.”

 “Sure, he might be a little hard to read,” Leo said diplomatically, thinking back to the cold eyes that had met him at the doorway. “But he’s a good man.”

“Doesn’t mean he’s right in the head,” Raph said.

“He’s one of the few people fighting for mutants; fighting for us!” Leo said.

“But,” Donnie interjected, crossing his arms over his chest. “Anyone who thinks they can talk directly to God is probably a little delusional.”

“Probably from smashing his head in that car crash,” Raph added.

“Yeah, probably,” Donnie confirmed. “But whether he’s using that delusion for good or evil is a different question entirely, and granted it appears to be the former.”

“Exactly. We need to give him the benefit of the doubt,” Leo said, looking down as if trying to convince himself before giving Raph a stern look. “All of us.” 

“Whatever,” Raph said, turning to see Reverend Rimmon motioning to the turtles from down the hall. “Just don’t say I didn’t warn ya,” Raph said before striding off with his bag slung over his shoulder.

~~~~~

Leo just stared at the ceiling as he laid sprawled out on top of his bed. He stretched his arms and legs out as far as he could and marveled how he still couldn’t reach the edge on either side; the bed was enormous! The supposed guest bedroom was nearly the size of the dojo back in the lair with a large carpeted floor separating the bed from the series of dressers on the far wall. The room even had its own chandelier! Though Leo was a bit awestruck by the sheer size of the space, the sense of emptiness that came with it was a little unnerving; he felt like he was a million miles from anyone else. Like he was alone. All alone.

Leo took in a sharp breath as his heart skipped. Leo quickly hopped up from the bed and rubbed his temples; he couldn’t just lay here and wait for dinner. He walked over to the window and looked out toward the vast gardens surrounding the estate. Maybe a walk outside would do him good. He figured he’d have to go quickly as he could see a thick blanket of clouds starting to roll in from the mountains in the distance.

As Leo turned toward the door, he happened to glance up and noticed a small black bulge in the upper corner of the room. As he drew closer, he realized that it was some sort of security camera as indicated by the dim red light that beamed into the room. It made sense that Reverend Rimmon would have a security system set up in his mansion, as he did have literally millions of dollars’ worth of art sitting around nearly every square inch of his property, but not here. Save for the large portrait of the Virgin Mary on the wall opposite the bed, there was little value in Leo’s room, at least compared to the courtyard and the halls outside his room. Perhaps, Leo figured, that Virgin Mary portrait was more valuable than he thought, but that didn’t explain why the camera was angled toward his bed and not the far wall itself, like a beacon, beaming down on him and him alone… Leo felt his heart quicken again and quickly rushed out of the room and shut the door behind him.

He leaned back against the door as he relaxed and caught his breath. Though the hall was quiet, he could hear the dull grunts of Raph, his neighbor just up the hall. Leo figured his brother was doing some shadow boxing to pass the time before dinner. For a second, Leo considered joining Raph for a friendly bout if not just for the company, but a sudden, distant crash caught his attention. It wasn’t quite the sound of shattering glass, but he could hear a distance voice too. Though he couldn’t make intelligible sense of what was being said, he had lived with Raph long enough to know when someone was cursing. It sounded like it was coming from downstairs as his room was right next to the stairs on the far end of the hall. Slowly, so as not to make too much sound, Leo crept down the stairs, trying to determine where the commotion was coming from. Was it coming from the backyard through the back, double doors, or was it coming from either of the lounge rooms jutting off either side of the hall at the bottom of the stairs? Where was it?

Once on the first floor, Leo followed the sounds toward the center of the room, walking by the stairs and underneath the balcony before stopping; the commotion now sounded like it was coming from behind him. He turned his head and notice a small alcove beneath the stairs he had just ventured down. The space was only a few feet wide before jutting up against the side wall of an archway beneath the above balcony leading into the rest of the hall. Leo normally would have easily either missed the cozy little space completely or simply disregarded the empty space as a product of the intricate design of the mansion as a whole, but it was clear where the sounds were originating. The space looked innocent enough, though as he approached the commotion suddenly ceased, causing Leo to pause. Looking closely, he could see the faint outlines of a hidden door that was nearly seamless with the wall itself. There wasn’t a visible knob or hinge or anything that Leo could see. Curious, he drew closer at which point he noticed a slight indention in the surrounding wall just wide enough for a finger to physically pry the door open. Leo slowly reached forward to crack the door open when suddenly it flung open. Standing before him was Reverend Rimmon who jumped slightly at the sight of Leonardo.

“Leo, my friend, what are you doing here?” Reverend Rimmon asked, his tone curt and flustered. His eyes pierced Leo has he adjusted his tie.  

“I uh, thought I heard something,” Leo said, backing up slightly as the reverend stepped forward from the pitch black space, immediately followed by his bodyguards who took up posts on either side of the turtle, practically brushing up against his shoulders. “And I thought that someone might need some help.”

“No help needed at all,” Reverend Rimmon said flatly as he ran his fingers through his hair.  Leo caught a glimpse of a set of descending stairs before the door was shut violently by one of the guards.

“Is everything alright?” Leo asked.

“Yes,” the reverend said, straightening his suit jacket as his warm demeanor slowly returned. “My apologies for seeming a little discombobulated. You see, I’ve been working on transcribing the new word of God into a purer work than any Bible to date. While I often receive guidance from above, the process of direct communication for precise spiritual work like this can be rather… invigorating as I metaphysically shed by corporeal form and open up my soul to the Lord in all his essence. Many wouldn’t be able to handle the inoculation of divine morality that I have been tasked with so for safety purposes, I transcribe this revolutionary gospel in secret, out of protection of folks such as yourself.” Reverend Rimmon placed a hand on Leo’s shoulder. “But that’s nothing you need to worry yourself about.” As Reverend Rimmon turned, he pulled Leo with him, away from the door and toward the center of the back entranceway. Leo could feel the cold stare of the reverend’s body guards walking in step behind them.

“If you’ll excuse me, Leonardo, I need to freshen up before we convene later this evening.” Reverend Rimmon gave Leo a firm squeeze on his shoulder before walking down the large hallway that peeled off to the right of the stairs, his guards following closely behind. “See you at dinner!” the reverend said before disappearing from view.  

“Yes, see you at dinner,” Leo muttered. He turned toward the alcove under the stairs for a second as a flash of curious skepticism washed over him, but that moment swiftly passed. “Benefit of the doubt, remember,” Leo reminded himself before turning toward the double doors that led out to the backyard. He opened it to the outside garden, only to find the first droplets of rain starting to patter onto the patio.

~~~~~

“This all smells so good!” Mikey said, sniffing the air as he and his brothers walked into the dining room. A long banquet table sat prominently in the center of the room with eight seats positioned around and a proverbial feast splayed out upon the mahogany frame. Although the embroidered chair at the head of the table was empty, Splinter and April current were seated on either side of it. Noticing the empty chair beside April, Donnie rushed around and plopped down next to his crush.

“Fancy MEATing you here? Get it, because of the steaks and stuff…” Donnie charmed with a forced chuckle. Raph rolled his eyes as he and Mikey took the two remaining seats next to Splinter. Leo sat next to Donnie, noting the last empty chair beside him just as Casey emerged.

“Hey, Red, you didn’t save me a seat!” Casey said.

“Maybe if you’re going to be late, you don’t deserve the privilege of my company,” April said, crossing her arms over her chest and turning her head away.

“Yeah,” Donnie reiterated, “you snooze you lose, hockey boy.”

“That seat looks open,” April said, motioning toward the last open seat by Leo at the far end of the table. Casey glared at Donnie and the teasing tongue sticking out of his face before sitting down with a huff. A loud bang echoed about the air as the double doors at the opposite end of the room flung open as Reverend Rimmon entered, donning a dark green suit.

“Where does he get all of those,” Mikey whispered to Raph.

“Good evening!” Reverend Rimmon said as he took his seat at the table. Leo noticed is body guards taking up posts in either corner of the room; a comfortable distance.

“This meal looks wonderful,” Splinter said, bowing his head. “We are grateful for your hospitality.”

“It’s not me you should be thanking,” Reverend Rimmon. “It’s Martha, my head chef, and her wonderful assistants that put this all together. I would bring them out to give them the proper thanks they deserve, but I’m sending them home earlier before the storm outside gets too bad.”

“The rain is already coming down pretty hard,” Leo said, motioning to the thick droplets of water splattering against the darkening window.

“And it’s only supposed to worsen,” Reverend Rimmon added. “Though I appreciate having my little helpers around, I cherish nothing more than their safety and wellbeing. That being said, if any one of you have anything you need taken care of, please say so now. Once everyone has gone, we’ll be on our own until tomorrow morning.”

“I think we’ll be able to manage until the morning,” April said as Mikey’s hand shot into the air.

“Will there be midnight snacks available?” Mikey asked.

“We haven’t even eaten dinner yet!” Raph chastised.

“I’m just planning ahead,” Mikey said.

“There should be plenty of food left after this feast that Martha as blessed us with tonight,” Reverend Rimmon said.

“Speaking of which,” Mikey said reaching forward for a basket of streaming rolls.

“A dinner we can graciously enjoy after we say grace,” Reverend Rimmon continued as he lowered his head and Mikey dropped the roll back into the basket. Everyone was seated too far apart to grab hands, but they took Reverend Rimmon’s lead and bowed their heads. Leo peaked his eye to his side and saw Raph and Donnie still sitting up. He grunted, grabbing their attention and glared at them until they begrudgingly bowed their heads too.

“I am truly blessed,” Reverend Rimmon said, “to be able to enjoy this lovely meal with my niece and her friends and though the skies may be dark may our conversations brighten this evening with joy, fun, and lasting memories. Amen.” The reverend raised his head and clasped his hands together. “Now, let’s dig in!”

“Finally!” Mikey said, grabbing a basket of rolls and plopping two on his plate before reaching for a platter of steaks.

“Don’t hog them all!” Raph said.

“These green beans look really good,” April said, scooping some onto her plate.

“And good for you,” Donnie said. “They’re a great source of copper, phosphorus, magnesium…”

“Those all sound bad for you,” Mikey said.

“Copper is extremely important! Without it, our cells couldn’t transport iron in our blood to make new red blood cells, or perform oxidative phosphorylation with…”

“Donnie, how about we cool it with the science talk for now,” Leo said, pouring himself a glass of water from the chilled pitcher before scooping some corn and pork chops onto his plate.

“I think it’s fascinating,” Reverend Rimmon said, trying to spark some conversation. “Where did you learn all of that?”

“Lippincott’s tome on biochemistry. I used to read it all the time when I was younger!” Donnie said.

“Is that the one that weighed a million pounds?” Raph asked.

“Well technically only three pounds,” Donnie said. “It was only 500 pages.”

“That’s a lot for a book,” April interjected.

“Yeah,” Raph said, chuckling as he cut a hunk of steak. “One time, Donnie was laying on the couch reading over his head and bang, he dropped it right on his face. Didn’t the corner caught your lip and you bled for like an hour?”

“Yes, it was very painful,” Donnie said flatly. “Ironically enough I was reading about blood coagulation pathways when it happened.” 

“You seem like quite the avid reader,” Reverend Rimmon said.

“That’s an understatement,” Mikey said as he stuffed one of his rolls whole into his mouth.

“If you don’t mind me asking,” Reverend Rimmon continued, “because I’m curious: how did you learn how to read? I don’t mean to pry, but April has told me a little about your situation in the sewer and I just can’t even imagine what that must have been like.”

“Well, Master Splinter taught us a bit of English and Japanese, but I’ve been teaching myself since I was around seven.”

“You are truly a marvelous specimen,” Reverend Rimmon said. “Have you ever considered going to school?” Leo saw Splinter’s eyes widen.

“Those sorts of human,” Splinter said, coughing slightly on his mouthful of mashed potatoes, “institutions are not quite accepting of mutants such as ourselves.”

“There are a few mutants trying to integrate into my school now,” April said. “But it’s creating all sorts of havoc.”

“Now that is truly a shame,” Reverend Rimmon said. “That is why I’m dedicated to helping remedy this social divide so that the world can be restored to a greater unity.”

“Besides,” Donnie teased, “If I joined April’s class, I’d probably knock her out of her valedictorian spot.”

“It’d be hard to beat a perfect GPA,” April flaunted. “I’ve got that honor practically wrapped up in the books. I could probably skip the rest of my classes and the rest of the troglodytes still couldn’t catch up by June!”

“Gloat much?” Raph jeered.

“Hey, I’m allowed to take pride in my accomplishments and the things I do,” April said. “In case you forgot, if it weren’t for me, y’all wouldn’t have had any connection to the human world and you wouldn’t be here today!”

“I’m sorry to have offended you, my queen,” Raph mocked. 

“Man,” Leo said loudly, trying to change the subject, “this food is amazing!”

“You’re telling me,” Mikey said through a mouthful of steak. The orange-banded turtle had managed to already clear his plate was fervently going back for more. He grabbed the bowl of mashed potatoes and dumped nearly half of it onto his plate before dousing the monumental pile with gravy.

“Are you even tasting anything?” Raph asked as Mikey shoveled potato into his mouth.

“Mikey,” Leo said through gritted teeth. “Slow down and show some manners.”

“Oh, it’s quite alright,” Reverend Rimmon said. “There’s plenty to go around.” Leo continued to glare at Mikey but the younger turtle simply shrugged.

“You heard the man, now where is that amazing corn?” Mikey asked.

“Right here, my friend,” Reverend Rimmon said, picking up a large bowl to his right. He reached over to pass the bowl to Splinter on its way to the ravenous orange-banded turtle. The reverend must have underestimated the size of Splinter’s paws as they wrapped around the bowl and brushed his hands. The bowl hung in the air between the two for a second as the reverend paused, staring at the overlap of their digits.

“My apologies,” Splinter said, bowing his head as the reverend eventually relaxed his grip.

“No worries at all,” the reverend said jovially. Splinter handed the bowl to the eagerly awaiting Mikey before going back to his own plate. He didn’t notice Reverend Rimmon slowly slip his hands under the table, grabbing his napkin along the way, but Leo noticed. After a quick jostle of the reverend’s arms, the napkin was returned, used. Leo kept his eye on the reverend as the conversations around the table continued. Though his smile was always present, there was something about his stare that irked Leo. Only now as the reverend periodically glanced in his direction did Leo notice how dark the irises around his pupils were; so black and soulless that Leo felted chilled yet his stare seemed to burn. Leo only snapped back to reality when he saw a basket being jiggled in his periphery.

“You want another roll before Mikey inhales the last of them?” Casey asked.

“Sure, thanks,” Leo said. As he grabbed a roll he noticed Casey using his fork to smear butter on his own roll. “You know that’s what you have a knife for, right?” Leo looked down and noticed that the polished silver knife was nowhere to be found by Casey’s plate. Casey shrugged with a nervous smile as Leo glared at him. After a few seconds, Casey gave in and pulled the knife out of his pocket and put it back on the table.

“It’s not like he would’ve noticed,” Casey muttered under his breath. Leo turned to see one of the guards whispering in Reverend Rimmon’s ear before resuming his position in the corner of the room.

“Well, I don’t know about all of you,” Reverend Rimmon announced, placing his hands on his stomach. “But I’m practically bursting from the seams!” Mikey let out a moan as he slouched back against his chair. His arms hung lazily at his side as he hiccupped. He had managed to pack away four heaping plates of food, with only a sink hunk of steak left on his plate. Though he was clearly stuffed, he slowly reached for his fork and brought the bite to his mouth. He groaned as he chewed and ultimately swallowed the hunk of meat with a hardy gulp.

“Best… meal… *hiccup… ever,” he mumbled.

“Normally I’d offer you all some after-dinner treats, but I’ve just been informed that the kitchen crew wasn’t able to prepare a proper dessert.”

“Aw man,” Mikey groaned.

“Seriously?” Donnie asked.

“What? I always save room for dessert,” Mikey said.

“As such, feel free depart and enjoy the rest of your evenings,” Reverend Rimmon said, just as a clap of thunder boomed outside. “Or at least enjoy as best you can,” the reverend chuckled as he stood up from his seat. “As such, I must beg all of your pardons and excuse myself. I have a few,” the reverend paused, “church matters to attend to before the evening expires. It was a pleasure and honor to meet each and every one of you and may God bless you all with sound sleep tonight.”

Another crash of thunder punctuated the reverend’s exit though instead of heading out the doors he had come in through, he marched behind April, Donnie, Leo, and Casey and out into the main hall. The dining room was near the backside of the mansion, just two doors away from the back set of stairs, but still, the reverend made a beeline in that direction; Leo noticed.

“Hey Leo,” Donnie said, placing a hand on Leo’s shoulder, bringing him back to reality. “We’re gonna play cards in the lounge if you want to join.”

“Sure, thing,” Leo said, standing up. As he followed the crew out the door, he saw Mikey picking up one of the remaining baskets of rolls. The turtle looked up and caught Leo’s disapproving eye.

“What? It’s just for later,” Mikey said but to no avail. With a sigh, he put the basket down, but as Leo turned, he grabbed two rolls and went to join the others.

~~~~~

“Are you listening, Leo?” Raph said as he stepped in front of the television, blocking Leo’s view. “Space Heroes can wait, the Foot have broken into the lair!” Raph pulled out his sais as he jumped out of view. Leo could hear the clang of weapons, the pounding of fits, and the sound of endless pairs of running, jumping, and kicking feet; too many for his brothers to handle alone. Leo heard Mikey scream. He wanted nothing more than to jump up and help his brothers, but he couldn’t take his eyes off the flashing cartoon before him. He was frozen in place.

“We’re outnumbered!” Donnie cried as the room slowly darkened around Leo, leaving only the light of the television flickering in his eyes. Leo saw the silhouette of Mikey back into view before he was pulled away by a flurry of Foot Soldiers. Then Donnie crashed into view on his back before he was dragged back into the darkness with a scream. Finally, Raph slowly backed into view, turning sharply one direction then another, trying to find the enemy hidden in the darkness.

“Show yourself!” Raph shouted to his hidden assailants. To Leo’s horror, he saw a few shadowy figures slowly climb over to the top of the television, their lanky limbs cutting through the glare of the colorful talking heads on screen. Leo wanted nothing more than to shout and warn his brother, but his voice was caught in his throat. There was nothing he could do as Raph was pulled back out of sight, his cries for help slowly fading into the distance, leaving Leo alone. All alone. Because he had done nothing. Absolutely nothing.

A tear rolled down his catatonic cheek as his eyes followed the cartoon before him. Slowly though, Leo began to notice his brothers’ faces in place of the characters on the screen. Soon, it was Captain Raphael who was shouting orders on the bridge that Lieutenant Michelangelo and Donatello had to carry out.

“Lieutenant Donatello, power down the laser missiles,” Captain Raph said.

“But Captain, we’ll be doomed if we do nothing!” Lieutenant Michelangelo cried.

“That’s right,” Captain Raph said before staring directly at Leo. “Doing nothing will lead to our doom.” The camera then cut to Lieutenant Donnie who stared straight out of the television.

“Lead to our destruction,” he said before the camera cut to Lieutenant Michelangelo.

“Our demise,” Lieutenant Michelangelo said as he pointed toward Leo, “Because we did nothing.” The camera cut back to Captain Raphael.

“We’ll be gone forever because you did nothing!” Captain Raph said as he pointed toward Leo. The camera sharply cut to a shot of all three standing and pointing at Leo as  

“Our doom,” they said in unison. “Our destruction. Our demise…”

“It’s your fault!” Mikey’s voice seemed to whisper from behind Leo.

“Our doom. Our destruction. Our demise…”

“You did this to us!” Donnie’s sneering voice shrieked to Leo’s left.

“Our doom. Our destruction...”

“You did nothing!” Mikey scolded.

 “Our demise. Our doom. Our destruction…”

“OUR DAMNATION!” Raph’s voice shouted as the television suddenly hurled itself toward Leo. Just before it smashed into his face, Leo’s eyes flung open as he shot up in bed. The thrum of the pounding rain against the window echoed about the dark room that occasionally lit up as lightning crackled outside, revealing the face of the Virgin Mary for a split second on the wall across the room. Leo wiped his slick brow as his breath and heart slowed.

“It was just a dream,” Leo whispered to himself. “It was just a dream.” Though he wanted to slip back under the covers, he knew how this routine went; he wasn’t going to get much sleep now. The sound of the rain outside reminded Leo that he was thirsty. Maybe a quick trip to grab some water would calm his mind and he could catch a few more z’s before morning. As he slid out of bed, Leo figured that there must still be a water pitcher on the dining room table downstairs. The rolling thunder seemed to shake the very walls of the mansion as Leo stepped out into the dark hallway.

Growing up in the sewers, Leo wasn’t used to thunderstorms in terms of the thunder and lightning itself but instead the torrential downpours that flooded into the underground reservoirs around the lair. He stood in the hallway for a moment, watching the flashes of light reflect off the banister of the balcony and the paintings along the walls. As Leo carefully crept along the carpeted floor, the shadows of the small tables and figurines lining the walls seemed to warp and contort in the stormy light. Vases seemed to expand and busts of ancient Greek and Roman warriors seemed to smile with a sinister intent, their shadowy eyes following Leo as he approached the stairs. To distract himself as he descended to the first floor, he stared out the tall windows flanking the set of double doors, watching the rain splattering against the glass in its own electric light show; it was soothing in a way.

When he turned at the bottom of the stairs in route to the dining room, he paused as he spotted a soft glow of light bouncing off the floor; it was coming from the alcove under the stairs. Slowly approaching it, he saw the hidden door to the stairs cracked open ever so slightly, the thunder and howling wind pounding against the mansion having likely shook it loose from its frame. Curious, he slowly opened the door, noting the light bulbs hanging periodically from the slanted ceiling illuminating a cramped staircase. There was a landing about fifteen steps down where the path veered out of sight. Though it was hard to tell, Leo swore he could hear voices over the sound of the storm outside; angry voices.

A cool draft of air wisped by Leo, causing him to shiver as it seemed to coax him forward. Before he realized what he was doing, he was slowly creeping his way down the stairs making sure that his steps were silent beneath his feet. At the landing, he pressed his back to the wall and peered around the corner. The staircase continued for another half-dozen steps before leveling out on a cement basement floor that eerily contrasted the pristine wood décor in the mansion above. The basement was dark, illuminated only by the light of the last bulb dangling above the stairwell and the soft glow emanating from an open door frame about ten feet from the bottom of the stairs along a wall that stretched beyond Leo’s field of view with an open doorway just offset from the bottom step.

With no one in sight, Leo crept down the last flight of stairs, his eyes darting back and forth, watching for any sudden movements or surprises. With the sound of thunder growing distant behind him, he could clearly hear a series of voices emanating from whatever lay beyond the open door. At the bottom of the stairs, Leo quickly rushed to press his back against the wall and carefully inched his way to the edge of the door frame. Once he was at the edge of the open door, he craned his neck and peered inside.  

The room was larger than Leo had expected, as it was nearly the size of Donnie’s lab back in the lair and coincidently had many of the same features. There were a half dozen small metallic tables scattered about the space, each stacked with a miscellaneous series of tools, trinkets, and artifacts. Unlike in Donnie’s lab, however, the center of the room was open and bare, with all the tables, bookcases, and other fixtures spread along the walls. Spread across the walls were a series of red and white candles that burned with a bright, almost crimson color, giving the space an eerie glow that bounced off the pair of large, scrap wood and twine crosses that hung on the walls to Leo’s right and left. Though it was hard to make out in the candlelight, Leo saw strange markings and symbols both carved into and painted in black and dark red paint on the walls.  

In the far corners of the room, there was a pair of towering stone figures orating from open copies of the Bible in their hands. One Leo recognized as a depiction of a Pope with his tall papal tiara while the other Leo assumed was meant to be an angel, but it was hard to tell as their wings were missing. Based on the crack stone they were made of, it would make sense that the wings had long since disintegrated, but the cut on the nubs that remained were smooth and pristine; a recent intentional modification. A halo of barbed wire was wrapped around each statues’ eyes as a black viscous fluid seemed to physically drip from their eyes. A sudden motion out of the corner of Leo’s eye made his heart skip as he saw a figure slowly approach the angel statue. Though it was hard to tell in the dim light, Leo could make out the green coloration of the figure’s suit: Reverend Rimmon.

“Winged angels on high think they are above us. They think they are above sin. They think they know what God knows. They think they see what God sees,” the reverend huffed, his voice hoarse. He reached a hand into a small stone bowl he was carrying and smeared more the same black substance on the statue’s mouth. The fluid dripped down and onto the Bible in the angel’s hand, coating it in the black sludge. He then walked across the room and coated the Pope’s mouth in the same way. “They think they read his true word from this blasphemous book. They think they speak His truth from these accursed letters but they only spew vile and impurity. They think these twisted forms, these words purposefully molded by their greedy transcribers and curators for their own sinful benefits, are the truth. LIARS!” The reverend shouted. “They think they know his message, but they don’t. I do. I do. I DO!” The reverend threw the bowl on the ground causing it to shatter into a thousand small pieces. “We do,” the reverend said quietly. Suddenly the reverend doubled over, groaning as he clutched his torso and chest.

“Sir,” one the guards standing in the corner of the room said, concerned. Leo realized it was the first time he had heard one of them speak. A second later, the reverend right himself and chuckled softly.

“Sir!” the other guard said as the two stepped closer to the reverend.

“What?!” Reverend Rimmon whipped around and even in the candlelight, Leo could see something was wrong. His face was contorted, with veins popping out of his neck and forward while his chest heaved deep, panting breaths. His lips were curled into a snarl, but the most troubling thing was the reverend’s eyes. They were wide, like a caged animal, and seemed to have a fiery glow.

“What the fuck…?” Leo muttered to himself.

“Jesus,” one of the guards exclaimed.

“Sir, you’ve gone too far!” the shorter guard said.

“Gone too far? We’ve only begun!”

“I don’t know who you think you’re talking to, but…”

“It’s God!”

“You’re insane!”

“Are you calling our Lord, crazy?” Reverend Rimmon said, gritting his teeth.

“You’re obsessed!” the taller guard said.

“You’re possessed!” the shorter guard said.

“I’m merely the vessel through which His great work can come to fruition!”

“It’s not God you fool! Can’t you see? Fuck! At first we thought you were just a crazy religious nutcase, but after all these, sessions of yours…

“You’ve become believers,” the reverend interrupted.

“No, it has become clear you’re talking with something unnatural.”

“Something evil!”

“This denigration of the Lord will not be tolerated!” The reverend picked up a hunk of porcelain from the ground and hurled at his bodyguards.

“Quick, grab him!” The guards rushed forward, each grabbing one of the reverends arms as he writhed and shouted. “Why… won’t… he… go… down…?” A guard grunted as they tried to force their employer to the ground, but the reverend remained firm. With one final jolt, the candles in the room dimmed before bursting to life as the reverend hurled the guards across the room. Their bodies smashed against the wall and fell to the floor with a pair of thuds and moans. The reverend remained hunched over his arms dangling to the ground as a dark cloud seemed to waft in the air around him. He started to laugh which quickly turned into a cackle that seemed to echo in deep harmonic tones as he right himself.

“Fools,” the reverend growled as he slowly walked toward the back of the room where Leo was just now noticing a bank of dark monitors lining the back wall. Reverend Rimmon hunched over a keyboard and after a few quick strokes, the monitors flashed to life. Leo squinted as his eyes adjusted at one of the monitors. He could see a large bed with dark lines on top of which was the outline of…

Master Splinter! Leo thought as his eyes darted from one monitor to the next, each feed showing one of his brothers or friends sleeping in their respective rooms. Leo knew the feeds must be live as the distant clap of thunder corresponded with a bright flash of light emanating from the windows in the bedroom feeds.

“That’s right, sleep while you can, you vile little mutants, you,” the reverend cackled. “Soon, you won’t be sullying my bedsheets. Soon I won’t have to shake your hand or give you the warm smile you don’t deserve. Soon you won’t be filling my home with your wretched stench and you won’t be tainting God’s world with your unnatural presence, your sub-human bodies, and your unholy souls! I will cleanse your world, God!” Reverend Rimmon shouted, raising his arms up by his sides. “Once the ritual has been completed, I will use these putrid mutants as the embodiment of sin that they are. I will show my congregation and the world that the mutants are not worthy of breathing the same air as us! When the masses turn on the mutants, we will get rid of them and purify this world, just as you want!” Leo reached over his back and tightened his grip over his katanas.  He knew something felt off coming out the reverend’s home. Leo watched, waiting for the right moment, as the reverend calmly walked over to a bookshelf in the corner of the room pulled out a large, ancient tome. He then went and stood in the center of the room where he opened the book and began to chant aloud.

“By your word and your grace, I seek your company. O, holy being from which I speak, come forth and fill me with your spirit. Fill me with your power and grace so that I can carry out your whim. So that I can be your prophet. So that I can punish these mutant sinners and purify this world!” Reverend Rimmon reached into his pocket and pulled out a match and lit it with a quick flick of his wrists against the bindings of the book. “Come forth, I grant thee passage to this mortal realm!” It was now or never for Leo as he sprung from behind the doorway, his katanas drawn.

 “Reverend Rimmon, I’m going to put a stop to this!” After staring at Leo for a few seconds, a wide grin spread across the reverend’s face as he began to laugh. 

“Oh, Leonardo,” Reverend Rimmon said.

“Don’t patronize me!” Leo said. “Put the book down!”

“Whatever you say,” Reverend Rimmon said, dropping the match on the book and letting it drop to the floor. The old pages ignited instantly but didn’t appear to actually burn. Instead, the pages remained intact as a small fire grew, licking at the reverend’s knees. Leo was about to jump forward to apprehend the reverend, but then he saw the small fire move from the book and along the floor. The flames moved in straight lines, darting at symmetrical angles until Leo saw that a star had been formed on the ground. The candles along the edge of the room began to dim as a ring of fire began to encircle the star and the reverend standing in the middle. Reverend Rimmon continued to laugh as the flames began to grow, rising into the air as they burned from a seemingly unknown source.

Leo froze as he saw Reverend Rimmon slowly rise up above the flames, his arms out to the side as his body floated and slowly rotated in the air. The floor beneath Leo began to shake as the concrete began to crumble beneath the fiery pentagram, though the flaming star remained in place. Beneath it, a deep black hole emerged from which a dark, smoke began to seep up and into the room.  A chill ran down Leo’s spine as the smoke curled around his legs, as if actively molding around his frame. Leo felt as if someone was directly behind him, but looking over his shoulder he saw no one, just the black smog wafting out the door. Still, Leo couldn’t shake the feeling of a presence; a presence of something unnatural; something unholy.

“Yes!” Reverend Rimmon cackled as a swirling jet of smoke wrapped around his leg. “I can feel it!” Like tendrils, more jets of smoke emerged from the black pit, enveloping the reverend in the swirling chaos. “I can feel your power, Lord!” The reverend shouted as a red glow began to intensify from the pit. “I can feel your presence burning into my soul, I can feel… I can feel…” The reverend doubled over, clutching his torso. “UHghgh, I can feel… I can feel…!” Reverend Rimmon’s words caught in his throat as Leo saw his eyes grow wide. A deep rumble began to echo up from the depths of the pit, one that seemed to be drawing nearer and as it did so, became more clear.

“You fool, reverend,” the voice chuckled in a deep, pounding tone.

“Lord! It... it..!” Reverend Rimmon called out as flames began to circle their way up the tendrils of smoke surrounding his body. “It…”

“… Burns?” The voice completed with a deep chortle. “You wanted to be my vessel.”

“It’s too much!”

“Well, you don’t have a choice in the matter mortal!” Through the flames and the smoke, Leo swore he could make out a shadowy figure rising from the pit. The figure was formless, only discernable by the sense of an ethereal presence emanating from the smoke and fire. The reverend froze, his eyes locked forward as if seeing something Leo couldn’t quite make out.

“God?” The reverend asked.

“I’m your God now!” The voice boomed before Reverend Rimmon’s back wrenched backward and his mouth opened. He let out a blood-curdling scream as a thick, black tendril plunged down his throat. A wind whipped around the room, nearly knocking Leo off his feet and then in an instant everything froze. The flames from the pentagram slowly regressed to only a soft glow while the smoke cleared from around the reverend. The reverend was in a calm, neutral stance, hovering in the air, a stark contrast to his writhing form just a few seconds ago. His back was to Leo, but as the reverend slowly rotated around, Leo knew something was wrong. Leo took a step back as stared at the reverend’s cold, black eyes that were encircled by a glowing ring of shifting orange and red hues. His lips were curled into a smile that was spread far further than a normal mouth would stretch while a pair of nubs pressed out the top of his head. A black, jagged tail now whipped back and forth behind the reverend and his suit had taken on a dark, soulless tone.

“Reverend Rimmon?” Leo asked tentatively.

“In body maybe, turtle,” the being said. “But Reverend Rimmon is far from here.”

“What did you do to him?” Leo said.

“Only what he asked of me,” the being smirked. “Of course the arrogant fool did not know what he was asking for, but what can you expect from such a desperate mortal man?”

“Where is Reverend Rimmon?” Leo demanded.

“Where he belongs!” The begin shouted as a distant wailing chorus echoed from the depths of the pit below. “Where you all belong,” the being chuckled.

“You’re… you’re no god,” Leo said, angling his swords toward his foe.

“You’ve got a keen eye, turtle,” the being chuckled. “And I mean that sincerely. Most people can’t tell the difference between ethereal beings.” The being slowly lowered itself to the floor. “Especially, when you find yourself on the brink of death, where at any moment your life can be extinguished…” The being began to move toward Leo though his steps didn’t seem to correspond to his movement. Along the walls, the candles began to light themselves again, each burning with a molten flame that seemed to contort into tortured, skeletal faces.

“As a last ditch effort to make spiritual peace you reach out, desperate and praying with every fiber of your dying being that your calls for forgiveness will be answered. Sometimes in that darkest of moments as you lay wedged in a mangled car in the sopping rain, an angel will answer the call and sometimes someone like me will. In that moment of desperation, you will believe anything. You will believe it when that ethereal being says they are from on high, you will believe anything they say if they pull you out of that wreckage; if they save your life. You listen to them when they continue to whisper in your ear, stroking your ego saying you are the chosen one. You become blind with pride as you become a personal pawn, willing to do anything that ethereal being says, willing to go through drastic measures to sow the seeds of distrust, fear, rage, and violence amongst the mortals of this realm. Willing to commit the most abhorrent of sins.”

“You’re a monster!” Leo said, taking another step back. “You’re going to use Reverend Rimmon to stoke hatred against mutants!”

“Very astute, turtle,” the being chuckled. “I feed off the evils of this world and relish in the torment of sinners, and let me tell you, it’s all far more satisfying right here at the source in this realm. I’m just glad that I was invited!”

“You won’t get away with this!” Leo said angling his swords toward the being as he slowly drew nearer. “People are good at heart.”

“Everyone is a sinner. They try to tuck their sins away and hide their misdeeds and immorality, but I can see it. I know where to look and I can bring it to the forefront including for you, Leonardo.” Leo froze as the being drew nearer, stopping just a few inches from his face. “You think you are without fault? You think you are without sin. You think I don’t know how to prey on your fears and imperfections?” The being motioned slightly behind him toward the camera monitors. Leo watched in horror as the thick smoke flowed into Raph, Donnie, Mikey, Splinter, and April and Casey’s rooms. One by one, the smoky tendrils wrapped around their sleeping frames and pulled them out of sight into the dark of the night.

“What are you doing with them?” Leo shouted.

“What I do best,” the being said with a smirk.

“I won’t let you do this!” Leo said.

“Won’t let me? You already have,” the being chuckled. “You could have acted on your suspicious of the reverend from the beginning. You could have investigated this door after your run-in with the reverend earlier this afternoon. You could have stepped in when the reverend incapacitated his guards, and you could have stepped in when he was completing the ritual. Hell, you could have tried fighting me, you supposed half-shelled hero, this entire time, but you didn’t. Instead, you sat back and watched, paralyzed by indecision and complacency, and now it’s going to cost you!” The being thrust a hand forward and a wall of smoke barreled toward Leo, slamming into him like a freight train and sending him hurtling into the wall. He fell to the ground like a rag doll and as he looked up, his vision fading, he saw the crooked smile of the demon before him.

“You will be tested! You are not without sin, Leo! You will face your demons!” With that, Leo’s vision went black.

~~~~~

_It’s your fault._

_You did nothing._

_It’s your fault._

_You did nothing._

_It’s your fault._

_You did nothing._

_It’s your fault._

_YOU DID NOTHING!_

Leo awoke with a start. His eyes darting back and forth as they adjusted to the dark. As he came to his sense, he realized he was faced down on the concrete ground, the cold sending a chill down his spine. His muscles ached as he slowly moved his arms and clenched the handles of his katanas. His head pounded and his chest heaved as he remembered why he was sprawled out on the floor: they were gone.

His brothers. His father. His friends. They were all gone. Reverend Rimmon or whoever he had become had taken them and he had done nothing about it. Now they were gone, for real this time. Leo’s legs instinctively curled up against his chest before locking up while a cold chill ran down his spine. It was all his fault. Leo wanted to do nothing more than to curl up and cry, but as despair began to overwhelm him, he paused. It was quiet, but in the distance, Leo could hear a faint voice; a faint shout.  

“Raph!” Leo whispered. Raph wasn’t gone; he needed his help. They all needed his help. He had to do something. He had to… Leo clenched his fist around his katanas. He may have gotten them into this mess, but he could get them out! He could save them. All he needed to do was act! With a grunt, Leo pulled his battered frame up from the floor and onto his feet. Recognized that he was still in the ritual room, but amorphous smoke blanketed the walls and the ceiling, making it hard to tell the room’s true dimensions. Leo peeked his head out into the basement hallway and upon seeing the coast was clear, crept toward the stairs.

As he ascended, swords drawn, the stairwell seemed to warp and stretch around him. He took a half dozen steps seemingly in place before he launched up to the landing. Turning toward the open door above, Leo followed the flashes of lightning as the sound of thunder echoed in his ears, though not loud enough to drown out the shouts from his brother. Leo crept out of the stairwell and onto the ground floor noting that the black fog now enveloped every surface around him. His slowly moving feet kicked up wisps of smoke. A strange reddish glow emanated from the edge of the floor, lighting Leo’s way between flashes of lightning that seemed to originate all around him.

Leo paused in the middle of the back entranceway, listening. He whipped around as he a shout coming from the center of the open hall. Leo rushed forward but just as he was about to pass under the balcony arch he ran into a solid wall. Leo bounced off the surface with a thud before pressing his hands against it. There hadn’t been a wall there before. Leo turned back around and saw that the back entrance had disappeared and in its place, another wall had appeared, enclosing the turtle in an unfamiliar hallway that seemed to stretch on forever to his left and right. Leo heard another shout; he was close!

Disregarding his strange surroundings, Leo ran toward his left, searching for some sort of door or entrance that could lead him to his brother’s desperate voice. Leo felt his foot catch a something on the floor, causing him to stumble forward. Looking back over his shoulder, he saw a pair of angle statues staring back at him from either wall. While their hands were in a prayer position in front of their chests, their arched wings were sharp and jagged and their eyes were out and dripping with a vile black substance. Leo quickly backed up a few steps before he pumped into a wall behind him. Turning back around he saw he was in front of a set of double doors with a crimson glow emanating from the seams. 

“Stay back! Stay the fuck back!” Leo heard through the door: Raph! Leo grabbed both the door handles, flung them open and rushed inside. The room was filled with a milky red glow, forcing Leo to shield his eyes as they adjusted to the light. He saw that he was on a balcony that encircled a room below. He rushed over to the balcony to see the commotion. Below, Leo could make out a series of benches lined up in two rows that stretched from the back of the room toward the front where a raised platform and a podium stood. Lines of large candelabras lined the walls with flames glowing a fiery red while paintings of priests, nuns, and the Virgin Mary herself lined the walls. It took Leo only a second to realize it as some sort of church and another second to realize the paintings were all staring toward the center of the room where Raph was standing. His chest was heaving as he spun in frantic circles, his sais clutched in his tight fists and his lips curled up in a snarl.  

“I know you’re in here!” Raph shouted.

“Raphael,” a booming voice chuckled, sending a shiver down Leo’s spine: Reverend Rimmon. Though Leo couldn’t see the possessed reverend, his voice echoed about the room, seemingly from nowhere. “So quick to anger. So quick to violence. Already ready for a fight.”

“Show yourself, you coward!” Raph shouted as the reverend’s voice chuckled.

“Do you feel that fire pulsing through your veins?”

Raph backed up and knocked over one of the candelabras. He looked over just in time to see it clatter to the ground and shatter into a million tiny pieces like a pane of glass. 

 “You idiot!” a voice said in front of him. Raph whipped back around to see Mikey standing in front of him, or at least someone who looked like his brother. Though Mikey’s furrowed brow and clenched jaw were uncommon on the turtle’s face, it was the red, glowing eyes bulging out of his face that made Raph step back.

“Stay back!” Raph shouted, getting into a fighting stance.

“You clumsy moron! You’ve ruined everything!” Mikey lunged toward Raph with a shout, swinging his nunchucks violently toward Raph’s head. Raph ducked out of the way just in time and jabbed the butt of his sais into Mikey’s side. Instead of recoiling, Mikey vanished in a puff of black smoke.

“What the…?” Leo muttered under his breath stunned.

 “That burning has become second nature to you hasn’t it?” Reverend Rimmon said. “It’s a mask you put on to bury that deep churning in your gut, that amalgam of fear, confusion, and sense of unknowing. That proverbial cocktail of emotions that you have never quite figured out how to express through that tough exterior of yours,” Reverend Rimmon’s voice boomed, “except for…”

“Why weren’t you careful like I warned you!” An apparition of Donnie materialized right behind Raph. Raph turned and ducked just in time to avoid the hammering blow of Donnie’s bo staff on his head.

“I didn’t do anything!” Raph shouted as he dropped to the floor as Donnie swung his bow staff once more. Raph kicked Donnie’s legs out from beneath him and the moment Donnie’s body hit the floor it vanished with a black, misty poof. Raph stood at the ready as the reverend’s chuckling voice echoed about the room.

“Your anger. It takes refuge in every fiber of your being. It must feel so common… so natural... so comforting. It’s your weapon of choice, one that poisons its reckless user!” Reverend Rimmon bellowed.

“Why do you always have to fight me on this!” Leo gasped as he saw a version of himself appear before Raph. The Leo down below instantly jumped toward Raph with his swords drawn and aimed right for Raph’s chest. Raph caught the blades in the belly of his sais, pressing back against Leo’s onslaught.

“Why must you make things difficult!?” the Leo snarled.

“Get away from me!” Raph shouted as he pressed back, sending the Leo stumbling backward. Once he regained his balance, the Leo lunged forward again forcing Raph up against the pulpit at the front of the room. Leo pressed down on Raph, inching his blades closer to his soft flesh.

“Aren’t you going to fight back?” the Leo grunted.

“Just leave me alone!” Raph grunted as sweat formed on his brow.

“I’m the one that tells you what to do. I’m the one that nit-picks every little detail of your life. I’m the one that tells you you’re being irrational, irresponsible, bullhead, weak, brash…”

“Shut up!” Raph shouted.

“What, are you getting mad?” the Leo teased, pressing down harder on Raph.

“Fuck off!”

“That’s it, take your frustrations out on me! This is what you’ve always wanted, isn’t it?”

“Just…” Raph grunted.  

“A chance to let your rage take control?” the Leo smirked. “No repercussions, just catharsis! Revenge! Come on, give me your best shot!” 

“Get off!”  

“FIGHT ME!” the Leo bellowed into Raph’s face. Raph shouted as he anchored his foot beneath the Leo and launched him up and over his head sending him clattering onto the floor behind him where he disappeared into a puff of smoke. Raph stood panting.  

“Only fools give full vent to their rage, and you, Raphael, are a fool,” Reverend Rimmon bellowed. “Your temper is quick and your anger is unyielding. You’re always one moment from unleashing unfiltered wrath on your friends and family. They are the ones that bear the brunt of your shortcomings yet you think not of the hostility, anger, and violence that you bring to their lives. Your hate and loathing consume them yet you feel as though you are the victim when they try and help you keep your temper at bay. Your rage has become a noxious parasite that everyone would be better off without. Better off without you.” 

“Shut up!” Raph shouted into the air as he clutched his head. “Shut up, shut up, shut up!”

“You have hurt them Raph.  You’re a danger to them all. You’ve poisoned them with your sin and now you will see that contagion you’ve selfishly inflicted onto your loved ones. Your wrath will be your downfall!”  The two Mikey’s lunged toward Raph just as Donnie and Leo figures appeared behind them.

“Raph!” Leo called from the balcony though his brother didn’t seem to hear him. Raph ducked to avoid a slashing nunchuck from one Mikey before jumping to the side to avoid the other. He landed a kick in the middle of one of their chests, sending them backward in a puff of smoke, but as the smoke cleared another Mikey appeared in its place. The sound of metal weapons clashing filled the air. Leo scanned along the balcony, trying to find a way down. Along the far wall, he saw a set of stairs and booked it toward them. As he ran, a pair of Donatello aspirations appeared before him. Leo paused, caught off guard by their red eyes and snarling faces.

“You don’t belong here!” One of the Donatellos croaked as the two rushed toward him. Leo quickly snapped back to his sense as he rose his sword above his head to counter the swing of one bo staff before yelping in pain as the other smashed against his shoulder. Leo planted his feet and shoulder checked one of the Donatellos to the side, sending him tumbling over the balcony railing. He then sideswiped another whipping bo strike from the remaining Donatello before landing a foot in his chest. Leo watched the manifestation of his brother dissipated into smoke blanketing the walls and ceiling.   

Leo heard a shout from below. Glancing over the edge, he could see a half dozen figures surrounding Raph. An unnaturally coordinated Casey rushed Raph from behind just as a Leo figure lunged at Raph from the side. Raph let out a cry as he tried to counter the pair of attacks but got knocked to the side into the first row of pews.

“Raph!” Leo cried as he rushed down the stairs. On his way down, he knocked a Mikey figure into the wall before slicing through another Donatello. At the bottom of the stairs, a shadowy April materialized before Leo. He hesitated for a second, but as soon as he saw the fire in her eyes and the small tanto blade in her swiping hand, he swept her feet out from beneath her. Leo turned toward Raph at the center of the room. There were several rows of pews between him and his brother along with the growing horde of demonic minions advancing toward Raph. He could hear the grunts of his brother’s valiant efforts but he was outnumbered.

“I am very disappointed in you!” a snarling Splinter bellowed, pointing a stern finger at Raph before leaping at the turtle. A tear welled up in the corner of Raph’s eyes as he countered Splinter’s jab at his neck and landed a punch right in his gut, causing him to burst into smoke, revealing another Splinter behind him.

“Why can’t you be like your brothers?” The second Splinter said, rushing forward followed by a pair of Leos.

“You’re weak!” The first Leo growled, knocking Raph back with a roundhouse kick.

“You’re slow!”  The second Leo said, landing a blow in the middle of Raph’s chest, causing him to double over. 

“Stop, yelling at me!” Raph tried to shout, but his voice was weak through his heavy, straining breath.

“You aren’t worthy of being a ninja!” The second Splinter said as he whipped his tail around, lashing Raph and sending him flying toward the pulpit at the font of the room.

“Raph!” Leo called again rushing forward and jabbing the two false Leos and Splinter in the back. He rushed through their wafting smoke before slicing through the hockey stick of a Casey Jones. Leo kept an eye on his brother, seeing that he was slow to rise to his feet as another Donnie and Mikey advanced toward him. Leo tumbled forward, knocking out one aspiration after another as he slowly worked his way toward Raph, noting that he heard more grunts and groans coming from his brother than the sound of his sais countering against his foe’s weapons. Gradually, Leo made his way past the first row of pews where he turned to face the trio of attackers surrounding Raph. Raph’s body contorted one way and then another as the two Leos and Splinter punched and kicked his battered frame.

 “You’re just a petulant child.” The Leos growled. “Just an angry little boy.”

“Just, stop yelling…” Raph grunted, another tear forming in the corner of his eye.

“Oh, are you going to cry now? Too much heat for poor old Raph to handle? Are we being too abrasive? Too aggressive? Too angry?” A Leo kicked Raph to the floor. Raph put his arms over his head as the trio of Leo’s towered over him, their swords inches from his faces. Raph closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable. After nothing happened for a few seconds, he slowly opened an eye and saw a hand reaching down toward him.  

“We need to get out of here, Raph!” Leo said. Raph initially recoiled, but upon seeing the soft gleam in Leo’s eyes, he knew he was looking at the real deal. Raph grabbed Leo’s hand. Raph stumbled on his feet as they turned around to see more apparitions spawning amongst the pews. Leo scanned the room and saw a door off to the side. He made a break for it, shoving Raph ahead of him.

Despite his bruises, Raph quickly shuffled toward the door as Leo fended off an April and Leonardo. After kicking the April into a pair of approaching Splinters. Leo turned and ran toward the door as Raph slipped out of the room. Leo rushed out and quickly slammed the door behind him as Raph pushed over a suit of armor in front of it. The two slowly backed up from the pounding fists rattling the door on its hinges. Eventually, the two bumped up against a hard surface behind them. They both turned to find a vacant wall behind them. Feeling trapped, they turned back around, their weapons in hand, but to their shock, the door and suit of armor had vanished. Instead, before them was a long hallway with dark smoke billowing along the tight walls.

“Not again… ugh” Leo groaned just he felt a set of arms wrap around his torso. He looked down to see Raph squeezing him tight. “Are you okay?”

“Just…” Raph said, his voice trembling as he struggled for words. “Thank you… for uh…”

“It’s alright,” Leo said, pulling Raph in tight.

“I’m… I’m sorry if I…” Raph’s voice croaked. “I’m sorry if I’ve ever hurt you.”

“You have nothing to apologize for,” Leo assured, cradling Raph.

“I do though,” Raph said quietly. “I do.” Leo could sense the fear in Raph’s voice, a tone that was not common for the red-banded turtle. Leo knew he’d be lying if he did share the same sentiment, but he needed to be strong right now. He needed to be there for Raph, no matter how scared he was himself.

“I’m here for you, Raph, just like I always have…” Leo said, his voice catching slightly in his throat as he had a momentary flashback to the alley. That dark, desolate alley. “…and always will. You’re my brother. Temper or not, that will never change.” After a few seconds, Raph relaxed his grip and the two separated. Leo tried not to draw attention to the wet marks at the corners of Raph eyes as he wiped his face and turned down the hall.

“What the hell is going on here, Leo,” he asked, clearing his throat.

“It’s Reverend Rimmon,” Leo said.

“Of course that nutjob is behind this,” Raph said, clenching his fists.

“It turns out he hates us mutants, has from the very beginning. He tricked us into coming here so that he can use us to turn the world against other mutants.”

“When I get my hands on him, I swear I’ll…” Raph, realizing he was starting to boil over, paused and took a deep breath, collecting his thoughts. “Wait, how do you know all of that?”

“I, uh, ran into him performing some sort of ritual. He was trying to channel God but instead, he summoned a demon which immediately possessed him and did all of this.” Leo motioned toward the shifting smoke along the walls and ceiling. “I know it sounds crazy but…”

“After all that shit back there, I’d believe just about anything,” Raph said. “So I’m guessing the others were taken?

“Just like you were. They could be anywhere in this place.”

“Well, how’d you find me?” Raph asked.

“I heard you scre…” Leo began to say when a shriek echoed down from the other end of the hallway.

“Was that, Donnie?” Raph asked. The two turtles gave each other a look before bolting down the corridor. They kept their eyes peeled along the blank walls until they spotted a door ahead of them. As they approached, they saw that the door had no handle. A strange pinkish glow emanated through the cracks in the frame and another scream erupted from inside. Without hesitating, both Raph and Leo took a step back and rammed their shoulders into the door, popping it open instantly and sending the two turtles tumbling inside.

When they collected themselves, they found that they were in a massive bedroom. They stood on a raised loft surrounded by a myriad of dressers and bureaus while slightly below them down a wall to wall triplet of stair steps was an expansive space complete with a large plush bed draped with satin linens. The space was nearly the size of the main room of the lair and yet somehow ore disheveled. Piles of clotheslined the floors, forming waist-high mounds while large pieces of furniture were scattered about, some covered by protective storage cloth as if the room had been recently abandoned. The only light seemed to come from a pink chandelier twirling in the center of the ceiling and large, glowing pink markings spelling out one word in various jagged sizes on the walls: lust.

Raph and Leo drew their weapons as they scanned the area, looking for their brother until Raph pointed toward the corner of the room as Donnie emerged from the double doors of a large closet. He was slowly backing up with his bo staff held up defensively in front of his chest. Raph and Leo were about to rush forward until they froze as April emerged from the closet.

“Where do you think you’re going, big guy?” April said, her tone alluring. She swayed her hips back and forth as she approached Donnie.

“What is she doing…?” Raph started to say before a second April appeared behind the first, and then another and another. They emerged in droves, forming a pack of Aprils, though not all were exactly alike. Some were tall, some were short. Some had their red hair braided or twisted in intricate arrangements while others had luscious hair that draped around their waists. Some wore April’s usual yellow and gray shirt combination while others wore dresses or even scantily clad lab coats. The one thing each April had in common were their blank, white eyes, soulless and unblinking as they slowly surrounded Donnie as he hesitantly shuffled backward. He tripped over a pile of debris on the floor before toppling over the front of the bed.

“Donatello,” Reverend Rimmon’s voice suddenly boomed. “You have lusted over April since the moment you laid eyes on her. You cherish her warm smile and adore her beaming eyes to the point of obsession.”

“Donnie, my sweet Donnie,” the first April said her unnaturally white eyes staring unmoving and unfeeling at Donnie as she clasped her hands over her chest.

“Just… just stay… away!” Donnie stuttered.

“Her piercing form,” Reverend Rimmon continued, “remains ever present in the back of your mind, a stifling beacon of infatuation that clouds your judgment and torments your every waking moment. Everything you do, create, and learn is done in the desperate hope that you can impress April. So that she’ll notice you. So that she’ll see you as more than a friend. So that she’ll see you for more than the shallow husk you have become!”

 “But don’t you want to cuddle Donnie?” the April said, placing her hands on either side of Donnie’s half reclined frame.

“You’ve suffocated that eager ambition for knowledge that once seeped from your very bones and in its place you’ve allowed your lust to take control of your life. You resort to your own embarrassment, denigration, and humiliation just to gain a fleeting moment of her attention and company…” Reverend Rimmon said.

“Don’t you want to snuggle, Donnie?” a second April said, coming up along Donnie’s side.

“Or something more?” a third April said, running a finger slowly up Donnie’s arm. Raph and Leo could see Donnie blush and cower away from the touch.

“No, no, that’s alright,” Donnie said, flustered.

“…You smother her with your affection in hopes that after all this time, that it’ll be reciprocated…” Reverend Rimmon said.

“Isn’t this what you wanted Donnie?” An April grabbed and wrenched Donnie’s hand free from his bo staff and placed it on her cheek.

“Isn’t this your dream?” Another April grabbed Donnie’s other hand, sending his bo staff clattering to the floor.

“Play with me, Donnie.”

“Touch me, Donnie!” An April crouched behind Donnie and tilted his head back to face the blank, seductive stare on her face.

“No, let go!” Donnie shouted as his body was tugged to the side:

“…Deep down you know that that’ll never happen,” Reverend Rimmon continued. “You’re a mutant. A freak. She could never love you, Donatello. She will never love you, Donatello. You are not worthy of such love. You are only worthy of that shallow, overwhelming lust that poisons your heart!”

“Come with me, my sweet prince!” An April said before he was jerked to the other side.

“Come with me!” Another April said. “Love my body. Love me!” Donnie wriggled his arms free and pushed the Aprils back. He scrambled along the bedsheets until his back was pressed against the headboard of the bed, though the mob before him simply advanced. Their hands swiped at Donnie’s legs, reaching for his ankles. One managed to grip his ankle straps and tugged him forward. In an instant a barrage of hands were wrapping around his limbs, jerking and pulling him from the seams.

“Get off!” Donnie screamed.

“Donnie!” Raph shouted as he rushed forward. Leo followed closely behind. They maneuvered quickly around the piles of clothes and furniture and leaped down to the lower section of the room. The outer ring of Aprils turned toward the advancing turtles.

“He’s ours!” A tall pigtailed April said, pulling out a sharp tanto knife. Raph jumped forward, catching the tanto in his sais before kicking the April in the shin and kneeing her in the side. After a loud, demonic groan, the April dissipated into a puff of smoke.

“Get up Donnie!” An April said, jolting Donnie up. “Get up and hold me. Touch me!”  

“No stay down and let me touch you,” said another as they put their hand on his neck and pushed him back down, causing him to gag. “Just like in your dreams.”

“Sss… stop…” Donnie croaked, trying to wrench her hand free.

“But isn’t this what you wanted?”

“Let me caress you,” another said.

“No, kiss me!” Donnie grunted as his arms were twisted back and forth, stretching them to their limits. He let out a scream of agony as he was yanked to the side as a nine-foot-tall April whipped him off the bed and onto the floor. Donnie yelped as he was slowly lifted into the air, coming face to face with the contorted grin of the April manifestation. The April brought Donnie to her lips, smothering his nose and mouth. After a few seconds, Donnie realized he couldn’t breathe and began to writhe against the April’s tight grip.

“I’ve got you, Donnie!” Leo said as he ran and slashed at the April’s back, cutting through her black latex jumpsuit. The April screeched, arching back and pulling Donnie’s head away, allowing him to gasp for air. The April turned, tucking Donnie under her arm like he was a rag doll to face Leo. Leo dodged a pair of slashing tantos from a set of Aprils conjoined at the hip to his left, slide to the side and grabbed Donnie’s bo from the floor, then rushed toward Donnie’s captor. He blocked a swiping hand with the bo staff and slide between the apparition’s legs. He hopped up and jammed the butt of his katanas into the small of her back with the strength of every fiber of his being. The April let out another blood-curdling shriek before vanishing into smoke, dropping Donnie to the floor with a hard thud. Leo rushed over to help his brother up.

“Are you okay, Donnie?” Leo asked, handing Donnie his bo staff as he wiped slobber from his face.  

“Yeah, I just need to…Hhghf!” Donnie started to say before two sets of hands grabbed his shoulders and pulled him backward.

“Stop running from us, Donnie,” the pair said in unison. Their grip was iron tight and Donnie could feel his arms starting to grow numb. “Let us love you just like you always wanted!” Leo rushed toward Donnie but a trio of Aprils appeared in front of him.

“Donnie!” Leo shouted as he whipped his katanas back and forth, protecting his face from the quick jabs from the April’s tantos. He dropped to the floor and swept their legs out from under them and leaped back up just in time to see Raph jabbing his sais into the pair of Aprils crushing Donnie’s shoulders.  

“There’s too many of them!” Raph said, fending off another attack as he got Donnie back to his feet.

“Head for the door!” Leo shouted as he rushed toward them. Raph grabbed one of Donnie’s arms and Leo grabbed the other as they cleared a path toward the door.

“Come back to us Donnie!”

“You’re nothing without us!”

 “Don’t leave!”

“Let us love you!” The Aprils screamed as they made chase. The turtles rushed through the maze of wares on the floor. Leo rushed ahead and opened the door as Raph dragged Donnie out behind them. Leo pulled the door shut just as the mob swiped at his face. Leo was flung back as the mob of Aprils slammed into the door, sending him crashing into Raph and Donnie. As they tumbled to the floor, the ground beneath them disappeared. They each screamed as the hallway rapidly vanished above them like a fading star until they slammed hard onto a floor that materialized below them.

Leo lay stunned for a few seconds, his heart pounding. Slowly, his bearings returned to him and he rose to his feet. Leo looked around and saw that they were in the middle of a crossroads between two hallways. The smoky walls disappeared into the distance in four directions, all of which looked exactly the same.

“You alright Donnie?” Raph asked, helping Donnie up from the floor.

“Yeah, I’m good,” Donnie said, his voice a little horse. He coughed as he rubbed his neck and shoulders while rising to his feet. “I just need to…” A sudden cracking sound echoed about the hall and before the turtles could react the floor splintered beneath them.

“Oh shit!” Raph exclaimed as they dropped down into a room below. They landed with a trio of dull thuds onto two rows of folding theater seats with Raph and Donnie landing side by side and Leo tumbling down into the row angled in front of his brothers. When they got to their feet, they saw that they were along the upper seating balcony of a large stage theater. Below them were rows up rows of seats that encircled a ground level circular stage that was bathed in bright cyan light.

“What is this place?” Raph asked, gripping the handles of his sais harder. Donnie looked down and picked up a piece of paper that was under his feet.

“Pride,” he read aloud. “A production of self-exaltation and sinful egoism.” As soon as he finished speaking, a loud clang echoed about the room. They watched the center of the stage slide away and immediately saw a flash of red hair before April’s face appeared as a platform rose from the depths below. April stood in the center frantically turning in one direction then the other before raising an arm to block the bright stage light beaming down at her.

“April!” Donnie called, his voice. His voice felt quiet leaving his mouth as if the sporadically angled architecture of the roof and walls were absorbing the sound.

“Donnie?” April called. “Where are you? Get me out of here…” Leo opened his mouth again to call down, but his voice caught in his throat as the deep, booming chuckle of Reverend Rimmon filled the air.

 “Who is that?” April said, pulling out her tanto and slashing it blindly through the air. “Stay away!”

“April,” the reverend said.

“Uncle Rimmy?” April said. “What’s going on? Help me!”

“April,” the reverend chuckled. “You are the center of your own world. because you think you are the end all be all of anything. Your advice is always impeccable, your answers are never wrong, and you assuredly know what’s best for people. If you think something is wrong, it is objectively wrong to all. Your good ideas are the only ones that matter. You have supreme confidence in your abilities for you think you are without mortal fault. You are perfect and therefore everyone else should be blessed by your presence and listen to you, and only you. Everything in your world revolves around you.”

Raph, Donnie, and Leo felt the ground rattle beneath them. Leo noticed a slim space of separation running along the edge between the row of seats. A moment later, Raph and Donnie began to move away from him. Looking at the wall, Leo could see that the balcony had segmented and his two brothers were rotating to the right as he moved to the left. Leo quickly hopped up to join Raph and Donnie as they looked down and saw the rest of the balcony and the seating below them segment. Groups of seats began to whirl in opposing directions, creating a blinding and disorienting display centered around the stage in the middle where April stood.

“You relish the fact that your friends look up to you, especially those turtles. You take pride in knowing the turtles because you know that makes you special. You take pride in being their liaison to the human world because they listen to you with doting ears. They look up to you and you take pride in believing deep in your heart that they would be lost without you. You take pride in being needed. You think you are the most important person in their lives and they should be grateful for knowing you because without you they would be nothing. Your pride blinds you to the inherent sin of your temperament and the damage your self-importance has on the ones you care about most.” As April stumbled around, she noticed the outline of a figure before her. She saw their long lanky legs, tall, slender frame, and the long pole jutting at an angle behind them.

“Donnie!” April cried running forward, slowly as Donnie’s figure emerged. His arm was contorted in an unnatural manner as if it had been broken in a dozen different places. Despite this a large grin was spread across his face while his eyes bugged out of his skull, unblinking. “Donnie, what happened?”

“Nothing you couldn’t fix April,” Donnie said with a monotonous cheerful tone.  

“Donnie, I think we should…” April stammered.

“Please, fix it April. You know what to do,” Donnie said, stepping forward. April cowered slightly before instinctively reaching forward. With nervous hands, she tried to pop Donnie’s shoulder back into place.

“There, that should hel…” With a soft pop, Donnie’s arm tore from his shoulder and slunk into April’s hands. April screamed as she stared at the disembodied appendage and the at the jagged bone jutting out of Donnie’s shoulder.

“Thank you April,” Donnie said, his grin growing unnatural large across his face as his head tilted to the side. He took a step closer. “What would I do without you.” It was only now that April noticed Donnie’s solid black, emotionless eyes as she screamed again. She dropped the arm onto the floor and backed up, watching as Donnie bent over, picked up his arm and continued to move toward her. “You’re so smart April. I’d be dead without you.” April suddenly felt herself brush up against something behind her. Turning around, she saw Mikey standing with an unmoving smile on his face. She gasped as she saw nails jutting out his shredded ears, barbed wire encircling his mutilated nose, and staples lining his sliced cheeks.

“You said that piercings were a cool thing that humans did,” the Mikey said. “You were so right, these are cool!” April put a hand to her mouth as she saw a pair of tacks sticking out of Mikey’s tongue through the open side of his torn cheek. “What would I do without you?”

“Thank you so much April,” Donnie said behind her as he placed his detached arm on April’s shoulder. “You really are the best.” April let out a scream as she saw Leo approach her through the cyan light and Splinter behind him.

“We gotta get down to her,” Raph said from the balcony as the floor beneath them continued to pick up speed.

“How?” Leo asked.

“Look, there!” Donnie pointed to a long string of cables dangling from the ceiling that led to a small catwalk in the center of the room where the cyan spotlights attached.

“Will those hold us?” Raph asked.

“Only one way to find out!” Donnie said. The three turtles readied themselves as the rotated closer to the wiring, jumping up and grabbing it as it whipped by overhead. They dangled from the cables for a second, waiting with baited breath for the inevitable snap, sending them hurtling to the floor, but the snap never came. They angled toward the center of the room and began to grabble toward the hanging lights.

“Stay away!” April said, pushing through the growing crowd around her, passed copies of Leo and Mikey and Raph and everyone else she knew.

“Is it okay to eat rat poison?” A passing Splinter asked.  

“What should I do about this cyst?” A Casey asked, prodding a massive bulge jutting out the side of his neck that was nearly the size of his head.

“I don’t know,” April said, wiping tears from her eyes.

“But you know everything,” a Mikey asked with a pencil sticking out of his eye.

“You know how to fix everything,” a Donnie said pushing a circuit board and a sauntering iron toward April.

“We don’t know what to do unless you tell us,” a Leo said as he poured a bowl of boiling soup on his head, causing his skin to char and peel away.

“No… I…” April said, finding herself surrounded on all sides by advancing, blacked eyed apparitions.

“But you must know!” A voice called from the growing crowd.

“Tell us!”

“Tell us what to do, April!’

“April, we need your help!”

“We always need your help April!”

“Tell us April!”

“Tell us what to do!”

“We don’t know what to do without you!”

“Help us April!” A Donnie said, grabbing April’s shoulders. “We’ll fall apart without you!” April heard a loud crack as the Donnie’s jaw detached on one side, dangling loosely before her. April screamed but suddenly she saw a brown blur flash before her eyes and in an instant, the Donnie grabbing her shoulder vanished with a puff of smoke. Looking up she saw a figure dangling down toward her and a bo staff just inches from her face.

“Grab on!” Donnie called down. April reached up to grab the bo staff, kicking at the crowd below as she was lifted into the air. As she was pulled up and out of the floodlights she could see Donnie dangling with a cord around his waist and Raph and Leo above on a catwalk hoisting them up. As Donnie and April were pulled onto the metal grating, April wrapped her arms around Donnie, shocking the turtle.

“Thank you, thank you so much,” April said. Hesitantly, Donnie placed a hand on April’s back, comforting her.

“You’re safe now,” Donnie said, closing his eyes.

“Uh, let’s not talk too soon,” Raph said, pulling out his sais as he turned toward the edge of the catwalk where a Mikey and Casey figure were slowly approaching.

“Is this the line to talk to April? I need her help!” the Mikey asked as one of his black eyes popped out of its socket. “Man, what would we do without her?”

“We gotta move!” Raph shouted.

“Where do we go?” April asked.

“There,” Leo said, pointing toward a large vent jutting down through the ceiling.

“Let’s move!” Raph said, leading the way. Donnie helped April to her feet and quickly followed Raph while Leo stood, his katanas drawn, facing the growing horde advancing toward them. The catwalk was fairly narrow, so Leo wasn’t concerned taking on the apparitions one by one, but as they drew nearer, the metal beneath him wavered. Realizing the flimsy scaffolding could only handle so much weight, Leo quickly turned and sprinted toward the vent. Raph had hopped up already and was pulling up April and Donnie.

“Let’s go, Leo!” Donnie called as the metallic clang of popping rivets filled the air. Leo ran and jumped, grabbing onto Donnie’s outstretched hand as the catwalk beneath him buckled and tumbled to the rotating floor, sending the mob of apparitions tumbling to the crowd far below. Donnie grunted as he pulled Leo up and into the vent. Leo saw Raph already on the move forward with April close behind him; Leo and Donnie quickly followed. The vent was cramped, allowing little more than crawling. Wisps of the black smoke filtered through small cracks in the metallic walls.

“I think I found an opening!” Raph called back eventually. Leo heard a loud clang as Raph busted open a vent and dropped to the floor below. The others followed Raph’s lead and when it was Leo’s turn, he saw that they had dropped back down into yet another ambiguous, hazy hallway.  

“Great,” Leo muttered under his breath.

“Would anyone like to explain to me what the hell is going on here?” April asked, clutching her arms over her stomach, still looking a little shook up from the theater.

“It’s your uncle,” Leo said.

“Uncle Rimmy?” April asked.

“He’s gone psycho,” Raph said.

“This seems a little more than just going crazy,” Donnie said.

“Leo knows, tell them!” Raph said slapping Leo on the shoulder.

“He was possessed by a demon,” Leo said frankly.

“There’s no way that’s possible,” April said. 

“Have you seen all the shit that’s been going on?” Raph said, growing agitated. “None of this is normal. None of this is natural!”

“Raph,” Leo said, placing a hand on Raph’s shoulder causing him to freeze. He bowed his head and took a deep breath, relaxing his tensing muscles. “It’s true. I saw it with my own eyes. He had this room in the basement, some sort of sanctuary that had all these weird statues and religious crosses and stuff.”

“And you just so happened to stumble upon this accursed room?” Donnie asked skeptically.

“I woke up in the middle of the night and heard a commotion coming from downstairs. When I got there he was setting up this strange ritual and….” Leo’s voice trailed off.

“And..?” April encouraged.

“And he started chanting from this old book and I tried to stop him but it was too late. The floor opened up and this dark presence rose out of the ground and possessed him.”

“Why would he do this?” April asked. “Why would he summon a demon.”

“I think he was trying to invoke the power of God,” Leo said. “But you remember that voice that he said was talking to him?”

“How could I forget,” Donnie said sarcastically.

“Apparently, that voice was real, and as you can probably guess, it wasn’t from an all-powerful holy being.”

“So he’s been talking to a demon all this time?” Donnie asked, throwing his hands up into the air. “Great, just great.”

“As you can imagine, that demon wants to create chaos. He convinced the reverend that mutants were the scum of the earth and to us,” Leo motioned to his brothers, “to help turn his congregation and the world against mutants so he could feed off all that collective hate, violence, and sin.”

“How was he going to do that?” April asked.

“By making us go crazy!” Raph grunted.

“If he tormented us,” Donnie said, piecing the puzzle together, “we’d surely lose our minds and do who knows what?”

“Nothing good,” Leo said.

“At which point he could blame our antics on the fact we were mutants, stoking fear and hatred to every mutant across the city, country, and globe!”

“But then why am I here?” April asked. “Or Casey for that matter?”

“If he can show that people that hang around mutants, like you two, go crazy too just like us, the public will fear for their sanity and lives! They’ll be grabbing pitchforks and torches faster than they did at the Salem witch trials!” Donnie said. “It really is a genius plan.”

“How about we don’t compliment the literal demon trying to destroy the world,” Raph said.

“But how do we stop him?” April asked.

“You said he was reading from a book when he summoned the demon, right?” Donnie asked.

“That’s right,” Leo said.

“So we need to get our hands on that book!”

“Why, so we can summon another demon?” Raph asked.

“No, because if there was a way to bring the demon into our world, there must be a way to send him back and I’d bet my life that there are instructions in that book. It may be a long shot, but unless anyone has a detailed knowledge of demonic rituals, I think it’s our only option.” Donnie said.

“So where do we find the book?” Raph asked.

“I think the better question is _how_ do we find the book,” Donnie said. “The boundaries of this place keep shifting, so even if we knew where the book was, we wouldn’t be able to navigate there in the first place.”

“If what Donnie is proposing is true, I doubt that this demonic version of Rimmon would let that book far from his sight,” April said.

“That’s right, it’s probably on his person, maybe in one of the pockets of his suit jacket,” Donnie said. “So, our best bet is to find Reverend Rimmon himself.”

“How are we going to do that? He’s a demon! He could be anywhere!” Raph said.

“I heard his voice when I was on that stage,” April said.

“And I heard him when I was in the chapel,” Raph said.

“Chapel?” April asked.

“Yes, chapel,” Raph said, gritting his teeth, “and he was nowhere to be found. He just projects his voice or something.”  

“Well, he has to be somewhere!” April said.

“Guys!” Leo said, holding up his hands, causing everyone to freeze. “I think we’re all forgetting that we still have no clue where Mikey, Casey, or Master Splinter are.” 

“You’re right,” April said. “they’re probably being tormented or tortured or worse.”

“We’ve got to find them,” Raph said.

“And that may be to our benefit,” Donnie mused.

“Of course it is!” Raph said. “They’re our family!”

“That’s not what I meant,” Donnie said. “Think about it. The only purpose that demon had was to torment all of us, right?”

“Right,” April replied.

“But what is he going to do if we rescue everyone from their torment?”

“He’s probably going to be really pissed off,” Raph said.

“Exactly,” Donnie replied. “If I had to guess, I’d say he’s probably going to intervene at some point which will give us an opportunity to nab that book and perform the reverse ritual to send him back from which he came.”

“Or he could tear us apart piece by piece because he’s, you know, a demon,” April said.

“We can hope!” Donnie said.

“Better yet, we can try,” Leo said. “We have to.” Leo pulled out his katanas and turned down the hall. 

“How do you know that’s the way to go?” April asked. Leo paused, clenching his fists harder around the handles of his blades.

“I…” Leo started before swallowing and refocusing. “I don’t, but someone has to take action. This place isn’t…” Leo’s voice trailed off as he squinted.

“What is it, Leo,” Raph asked. Leo squinted down the hall and through the black undulating smoke, he saw a thin sliver of light. Leo started shuffling to the light, before walking and ultimately running. He heard the patter of footsteps behind him as he rushed toward the growing bay of light illuminating the hall. As he drew nearer, he saw that it was emanating from extravagant archway leading into a large room at the end of the hall. The glare was blinding, forcing Leo to put his hands over his eyes as he stepped into the light. Leo and the others slowed to a stop, allowing their eyes to adjust. As they lowered their hands, their jaws dropped.

Before them was an enormous dining room, one that seemed to stretch toward the smoky horizon in the distance. Immediately before them was a long, banquet table, one even larger than the one they had sat at for dinner seemingly forever ago. The banquet table was piled high with decadent food. Platters of meats, bowls of chowders and stews, baskets of buttery rolls and crescents, and even a large fondue fountain in the center of the cascading mounds of treats and goodies. There were no chairs lining the table save for a large, towering throne at the far end. Perched on top of the golden arms and the velvet finish was a green, writhing figure.

“Mikey!” Raph shouted. The younger turtle was apparently too far away to hear the shout, but they could see him trying to break free from something binding his arms and legs. Raph, Leo, Donnie, and April rushed down the side of the banquet table toward the throne at the far end, but as they did so, they heard a familiar chuckle start to boom about the expansive room.

“Michelangelo,” Reverend Rimmon’s voice chortled. “All you do is eat. Your hunger knows no limits.” Leo pumped his legs as fast as he could, wanting to get to his brother before the inevitable chaos ensued. After a few seconds though, Leo noted that Mikey didn’t appear to be getting any closer. It was as if they were all running in place despite the fact that food was whizzing by along the table next to them. Leo veered to the side as a tower of stacked cakes toppled over onto the ground. He then hopped over a toppling stack of apples and oranges. Ahead, he saw a cascade of whole pork roasts tumbling to the floor. He felt a cool shadow fall over his shoulders, blocking the glowing light from the chandeliers above. He turned and saw that food on the table slowly rising up, forming a proverbial mountain that spread out to the sides, covering the floor in a growing assortment of steaming, bubbling food.

“You stuff and cram and scarf and gorge yourself with one morsel after another,” Reverend Rimmon continued, “chasing that visceral pleasure that comes from one more bite for it is the only means by which you can cope. Cope with how Raphael takes his rage out on you for even the slightest of missteps. Cope with how Donatello berates your clumsiness and immaturity. Cope with how Leonardo belittles your lack of focus. Cope with how you’re Sensei chastises you for your playful antics. They think you’re thoughtless. They think you’re a joke. They don’t care about you, so you eat. You eat for that fleeting moment of joy, anything to make you feel comforted. Yet they even fault you for indulging in that little bout of gratification, so you eat some more. You’ve learned to tune them out. You’ve learned to bottle up. You’ve learned to mask that pain so that they’ll leave you alone. Alone with your food. Alone with your sin.”

Leo’s foot squelched into a platter of potatoes and splattered a bowl of pudding, causing him to stumble forward into the growing sea of food on the floor. A second later, he felt something catch his ankle as he face-planted on the floor. He turned and saw that a string of sausages had wrapped around his foot.

“You rely on food, Michelangelo. You need food. It’s what defines you now. Your very existence is moving from one meal to the next, one snack to the next, one morsel to the next. Every day you indulge a little more than the last. You know this excess, this exorbitance, this vile gluttony is only a battered damn holding back the impending flood of your troubles, yet your consumption continues. Gratuitous self-destruction is always lurking on the other side of the lure that is gluttony’s enticing façade, ready to pounce on those that succumb to the food’s overwhelming pleasure and escape.”

After Leo finished untangling his foot he sat back up but became aware of something dangling above him in his periphery. He slowly raised his head and saw two chains of thick sausages floating in the air above him. Before Leo could react, they rushed down wrapping themselves around his legs and waist. Leo slashed at the animated food, freeing himself and quickly hopping up to his feet. All around him food began to rise from the floor and the table, forming a large cloud that began to circle in the air about the room. He turned to his left and saw Raph squaring off against a levitating turkey roast while to his right Donnie and April were back to back fending off a platoon of berry pies.

Leo saw something flash in the corner of his eye and ducked just in time as a pizza whizzed by his head like a buzz saw. He turned around and saw that a dozen of the cheesy, tomato pies were flying in his direction. They whizzed by his head, splattering scolding cheese and grease onto his cheeks and shoulders. Leo slashed his katanas through the air, slicing several of the pizzas in half, causing them to fall to the floor before disappearing into puffs of smoke. Leo rushed forward, glancing rapidly back an forth as an ice cream cone nearly stabbed his eyes and a cauldron of soup nearly poured its boiling contents on his head. The air was swimming with food, forcing Leo to bat and punch one plate and bowl after another way as he moved forward though unlike before Leo could tell he was making progress. The throne was gradually drawing nearer and as such he could make out Mikey’s plight it far greater detail.

Thick bands of lasagna noodles were wrapped around Mikey’s arms and legs, anchoring them to the side of the throne. A small cloud of food circled Mikey’s head as one by one cookies, berries, meat, and vegetables wedged themselves between Mikey’s lips and down his throat. His eyes were drooping while his cheeks puffed out to the sides like balloons. His head lulled to the side as tears dripped down the sides of his face. His abdomen looked swollen like at any moment he might burst from the seams. Leo dodged a swarm of kebob skewers and ran up to Mikey’s side. Mikey, with renewed vigor, turned toward lean, mumbling through his mouthful of possessed food. Leo knocked an incoming slab of steak to the side, allowing Mikey to chew and swallow.

“Leo,” Mikey said. “You… guys made… it!” His voice was strained but Leo could see the glimmer of hope in his eyes as he knocked away a rocketing club sandwich.

“Of course, we’re going to get you out of here!” Leo slashed at the noodles around Mikey’s arms and legs, pulling him up from the throne just as the shredded pasta itself rose from the ground and flew at them. “Let’s go!” Mikey’s legs buckled beneath him as he stepped down to the floor but Leo dragged him forward.

“I think I’m going to hurl,” Mikey said, holding a hand to his mouth.

“We need to get out of here!” Leo said. He turned toward the far end of the room where they had come in and saw that the wall had sealed off and was now blanketed in smoke. Leo scanned the area, trying to find something, anything that could lead away from the chaos. Then, along the side wall, he spotted something. The rush of the swirling food had caused the smoke to thin slightly and Leo could just barely see the outline of a door. “There!”

Leo made a beeline for the door, pulling Mikey along behind him. They rushed passed Donnie and April as the two batted away oversized fried drumsticks. Donnie whipped his bo staff one last time before the two followed Leo and Mikey. Raph stood directly in front of Leo, stabbing wildly at a dozen plates of pancakes slapping against his legs, chest, and head. With his free hand, Leo grabbed Raph’s wrist, jolting him forward as the crew rushed out of the room. April turned and saw the entire banquet hall congregating toward them. She quickly slammed the door but was forced back as the wall of food slammed against the wall. April slowly backed up as the sound of food hitting the door echoed like bullets in the hallway. As the door began to splinter, April felt something grab her hand.

“We’ve gotta go!” Donnie said, pulling April backward as a barrage of breadsticks began to pour through the growing cracks in the door. The two sprinted down the hall, watching as Raph, Leo, and Mikey veered off into another room ahead of them. April and Donnie quickly rushed through the open door as Leo slammed it behind them. A few seconds later, they heard a soft, rhythmic pounding from the other side of the door.

“These guys just won’t quit,” April said.

“The torment isn’t being strictly confined to the room anymore,” Donnie said. “Rimmon is stepping things up a notch.” Mikey stumbled off to the side, bent over, and wretched.

“Oh god,” April said, turning away.

“I’m okay, I just need to…” Mikey began to say before he hurled again. Leo walked up to Mikey and put his arm around his waist.

“It’s okay, just let it out,” Leo soothed. Mikey’s chest heaved for a few seconds as he spit the remaining gunk from his mouth. “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry for what dude? You’re not the one who forced all that food down my throat,” Mikey said.

“I mean for, you know, everything back home and…” Leo said.

“We…” Mikey started to say, turning his gaze away. “… We all have issues man, and we all have to deal with them at some point.” Leo looked over his shoulder toward the others. Raph was standing and staring at the door, keeping watch. His brow was furrowed but Leo could see his brother actively trying to relax his face; trying to calm himself. April had her arms clutched over her stomach and was hunched up against the wall. Donnie was stealing glances toward April, seeming to want and rush over to comfort her but holding back; hesitating.

“But,” Leo said, putting his hands on Mikey’s shoulders. “That doesn’t mean you or any of us have to do it alone. Not this time.”

“Um guys,” April said, the turtles turned and saw she was staring through an open archway on the far side of the room.

“Has that been there this whole time?” Donnie asked.

“Who knows,” Raph said as they all rushed over to the entranceway and stared inside. Before them was a towering, circular room lined with large, Greek pillars jutted up toward the large, domed ceiling fifty feet above them. A thin cloud of black smoke wafted along the cool marble floor, reminding Leo of a museum if it were for the large, towering mountains of junk that lay scattered along the floor.

“This looks like trouble,” April said.

“Well, there’s only two of us left, Splinter and….” Donnie said.

“Ahhaa!” A screamed echoed from the room, prompting them all to rush in.

“Casey!” Leo called.  

“Guys!” Casey's voice called, his tone weak and strained. “You gotta… *grunt… get me out of here!”

“Where are you?” April called, finding it nearly impossible to tell where his voice was coming from.

“I don’t know, but all this stuff is crushing me…” Casey said before the familiar chuckle of Reverend Rimmon filled the air.

“Casey Jones,” Reverend Rimmon said, “you desire all the material luxuries of this world yet you have nary an honest fiber in your being to attain such desires. You know that you aren’t smart enough, wise enough, or patient enough to earn things on your own, but you still feel entitled to the same indulgences afforded to those that are. Instead of sacrificing your own blood, sweat, and tears you rely on the effortless route: the route of a thief. You take what is not yours and have the audacity to claim it as your own. You disregard others in your pursuit for more because all you do is want and want and want! There is no limit to your greedy desires for as long as your heart beats and your fingers are nimble, you will continue your horrid pursuits for you want for the sake of wanting and take for the sake of taking.”

“Guys, spread out and try and find Casey, he’s got to be in one of these piles,” Leo said. Donnie and April peeled to the right and began to circle around a large pile of antique chairs and bedside tables. Raph rushed ahead and began to crawl up the side of a pile of crystal jewels that rose nearly to the ceiling itself. Mikey and Leo turned to the left and ran between two large mounds of junk.

“Look out!” Mikey said, grabbing Leo’s shoulders and pulling him back as a dozen mahogany chests slid down the side of the pile, falling and splintering on the ground before them.

“You are a menace, Casey, a dexterous parasite on this world suckling away at anyone foolish enough to leave even the smallest of jewels or the shiniest of coins within your rapacious reach. You think that those small actions are harmless but it is that insatiable seed of greed, that avarice, that crushes you and your loved ones under its all-encompassing weight, constraining you by the amalgam of your collective sins.”

“Guys…!” Casey’s voice echoed seemingly from three places and no places at the same time.

“Casey!” Mikey called, pulling aside tables and paintings and lace bonnets as he scoured the side of a mountain. Leo rushed toward another pile but hopped back as two towers behind it came crumbling down with a loud metallic crash. A cloud of dust kicked up into the air, causing Leo to cough. As the cloud dissipated, Leo thought he saw something poking out the top of the now flattened mound: a hand.

“Casey!” Leo shouted, rushing forward. He jumped from the top of one shattered desk after another until he was on top of the pile, before him, wedged beneath a pair of bicycles and a dresser was Casey’s bruised face.

“Leo, get me out of here!” Casey gasped.

“Guys, over here!” Leo called as he knelt down to grab Casey’s hand. He pulled with hall his might, but Casey didn’t budge.

“Ow ow ow,” Casey groaned.

“Are you caught on something?” Leo asked as Mikey hopped up next to him.

“Something’s pinned against my legs,” Casey groaned.

“Here, Mikey help me move this dresser,” Leo said. As the two lined up beside the piece of heavy furniture, they heard a sudden crack of lighting above them. They looked up and saw that the smoke cascading along the ceiling was being whipped up into a frenzy. A moment later, from the blackness, he saw something appear. It took him a split second to realize that it was an old box desktop and another second after that to realize it was falling directly toward them.

“Look out!’ Raph called from the base of the mound. Mikey and Leo jumped clear as the computer smashed into the pile right next to Casey.

“Are you alright?” Mikey called to Casey but merely got a grunt in response.

“The extra weight is crushing him,” Donnie said, popping up next to Mikey. Leo looked up and saw more objects starting to emerge from the demonic cloud.

“We need to get him out, quick!” Leo said. Leo and Mikey pushed the dresser to the side just as a skateboard crashed down in front of them. They pulled it aside as Raph grabbed one of the bikes, helping to clear a path around Casey. Donnie and April pushed aside a box of VHS tapes and a warped tube, freeing Casey’s torso.

“Everyone, grab on!” Leo shouted as everyone grabbed onto Casey’s arms and waist. With a grunt, they all pulled up as junk rained down on the pile all around them. Casey let out a cry as he suddenly jolted free, toppling over on top of Donnie.

“Let’s go!” Raph said, pointing toward the entranceway they had come in. The crew followed Raph as the towers began to crumble around them. Old telephones and stone sculptures ricocheted over their heads as they veered around piles of books and newspapers on the floor. Leo ducked as a falling fish bowl shattered to his left and a stuffed bird exploded into a pile of feathers on his right. They rounded the final mound and rushed through the entrance as the wave of junk pressed forward behind them, through the entranceway and into the enclave they had taken up shelter before. Without stopping, they rushed out the door and into the hallway. April screamed as a levitating breadstick bounced off the side of her head. Mikey quickly knocked it out of the way as Raph pointed further down the hall.

“Make a break for it!” He said, slashing at a sausage link that was threatening to wrap itself around his neck. Leo rushed out the door with marbles and novelty forks licking at his heels, only to run face first into a headless cut of salmon. Sputtering, he knocked the fish aside and rushed down the hall with the rest of the group. He saw Raph running through a set of double doors at the end of the hall. Leo pumped his legs harder. A few seconds later, he rushed through the opening as April and Casey slammed the doors shut behind them. There was a loud thud as the possessed food and the wave of junk pressed against the doors.

“This isn’t going to hold!” Raph said as he pressed his back up against the door, trying to help April and Casey.

“Is there something we can wedge the doors with…?” April grunted before an eerie silence fell upon them and the pounding outside ceased. Stepping back, she saw that the door had disappeared and in its place was a broad, unblemished wall that was immediately swallowed up by undulating smoke.

“Whoa,” Casey said. “That’s like some demonic shit right there.”

“Spot on,” Donnie said.

“That was close,” Mikey said.

“Too close,” Raph said.

“Rimmon is toying with us, like mice in an elaborate maze…” Donnie said before staring down the hall, his eyes growing wide. “Uh oh.” Everyone turned and saw an approaching blackness rushing down the hall, blanketing the walls and swallowing up the floor.

“Run!” Casey said, turning and bashing his forehead against the wall behind them.

“We’re cornered,” Raph shouted.

“Brace yourselves!” Leo called as the hall dimmed and the carpet before them vanished into an inky voice. April let out a shout as the floor beneath her gave way, falling into the blackness. Instinctively Leo reached for her but quickly found himself falling too, the dim light of the hallway disappearing into the distance above him. All Leo could hear were the screams of his friends and brothers around him and then the hard thump of his back bouncing off a hard floor beneath him. Though battered, Leo quickly hopped up to his feet, trying to gain his bearings. They were on a long thin walkway that had several pedestals of displaying ancient artistic artifacts. Along the side was a long banister and when Leo looked over it he saw a broad entranceway below, reminding him off…

“This is the main hallway!” Donnie called. “That was my room over there.”

“And mine there,” Mikey said.

“We’ve come full circle,” April said.

“Not all of us,” Raph said. “We still don’t know where Master Splinter is!”

“Wait, what room was he staying in?” Leo asked.

“That one!” Mikey said, pointing toward the far end of the upper walkway. They all sprinted toward the door, noting the dark, green haze filtering out from beneath the door.

“It’s locked,” Casey said, jiggling the door handle.

“Of course it is,” Donnie said.  

“Ghugh!” Raph grunted as he pounding his foot into the door, sending it flying open. They were about to rush inside but saw that there was no floor on the other side. Raph and Leo peered their heads through the doorframe and saw a large, concrete space that rose above and descended below them. Large, cylindrical pipes jutted out of the walls and the floor.

“What is it?” Mikey asked.

“It looks like, the sewers,” Leo said.

“But that’s impossible!” Casey said.

“Really, Casey?” April said, crossing her arms over her chest.

“How do we get down there?” Donnie asked. 

“There’s a ladder over there,” Raph said, pointing toward a series of rusty rungs anchored into the concrete wall fifty feet to the left, originating from a thin ledge that wrapped around to the base of the door.

"It’s worth a shot, now everyone, be careful,” Leo said, stepping out and pressing his back against the cool, moist wall. Raph, Mikey, and Donnie followed immediately after.

“Why are we doing this?” Casey said, following April.

“Because we need to find Splinter,” April said.

“How do we even know he’s down here?” Casey said. A deep guttural shout echoed about the cavernous space.

“Master Splinter!” Mikey said.

“Hurry up, Leo!” Raph barked as the door suddenly slammed shut behind them. A loud crack rumbled beneath their feet as the thin ledge began to crumble from the doorway behind them. “Hurry up, Leo!” Raph shouted again with urgency. The footing gave away beneath Casey’s feet, sending him screaming down the ground below, followed by April, Mikey, Donnie, Raph, and ultimately Leo himself. Leo’s hand just brushed the ladder as he tumbled to the floor in a cold heap. Though it took him a few seconds, as Leo stood up he saw thick black smoke filtering in from the pipes lining the room, covering the floor in a thick fog. Leo saw a sudden flash of light from a passageway off to the far wall, followed by another and another. Then, to his surprise, from the cloud of smoke, Splinter emerged, his face frantic as he stumbled backward.

“Splinter!” Leo called, but his voice was drowned out by the deep chuckle of Reverend Rimmon that bounced off the concrete walls. Leo tried to rush forward toward his father but a series of thick, metal pipes jutted up from the floor, blocking his path.

“Hamato Yoshi,” Reverend Rimmon’s voice boomed. “Your greatest sense of pride comes from your family. Despite the hardship, turmoil, and anguish that has been your life, you have found peace with the four sons you have raised. You cherish then, you love them, you’d do anything for them, yet of all the dangers and foes you have prepared them for, you, Hamato Yoshi, are their greatest enemy.” Four figures slowly arose from the smoky floor in front of Splinter, each slowly materializing into the cheerful faces of his sons.

“Sensei, can we work on proper uke kiri footwork,” the Leonardo said, playfully slashing his swords in the air before striking a battle pose.

“Master Splinter, can you help me sharpen my sais?” the Raph said, thrusting his weapons toward Splinter.

“Sensei, I made you a cake for Father’s Day!” the Mikey said, presenting Splinter with a malformed cake with a thick layer of frosting spread across the top while thin streaks lined the sides. “Also, we need more frosting.”

“Master Splinter, can I skip practice today? I need to finish upgrading the Shellraiser,” the Donatello said, tinkering with a circuit board.

“You can’t skip practice,” the Leo said. “We need to hone our skills so we can be masters like Sensei.”

“I wasn’t asking you, Leo,” the Donatello said. “Besides,” the Donatello continued with his most convincing tone, “we should delay practice so Raph can prepare his sais. It’s the only logical thing to do.”

“I’ll fight with our without dull blades,” Raph said, pounding his fists together.

“Mikey, stop eating the cake!” Leo said.

“What? Someone has to eat the first bite,” Mikey said, crumbs spilling out of his mouth.

“My… my sons,” Splinter said nervously, trying to calm the turtle’s bickering.

“They’ve become so bright and vibrant,” Reverend Rimmon said as the turtles continued to argue and jostle with one another. “Each their own person and each ready to take on the world, though you despise the latter. Ever since your mutation, you hidden in the shadows away from the world above, untrusting and unwilling to accept the human world you were ripped away from. You clung to your sons, relying on their reliance of you to teach and protect them to keep you going; they were the only social contact you had. You tried to inculcate them with your fear of humans and you felt no greater disappointment when they all wanted to explore the world above. Though you told yourself what you fear was what might happen to them, but deep down you knew they were ready. You had trained them well and knew they would be safe. No, you weren’t concerned about their wellbeing. You feared something far more selfish: you feared that they would fit in, that where you failed, they would succeed.”

“Can we please go to the surface, Sensei,” the Mikey said, getting on his knees, pleading. “Please, please, please, please!”

“We can handle it,” the Raph said.

“We’re ready!” Leo said. Behind the turtles, new figures slowly appeared rising eight, nine, or even ten feet into the air. As they came into focus, a white-aproned baker emerged, then a single mom with her two children, then a briefcase-wielding lawyer, and doctor, and skater. A public crowd grew behind the turtles, towering over them with red, burning eyes and sharp-toothed grins.

“No!” Splinter said, instinctively rushing between his sons, trying to shield them from the impending danger.

“What’s the matter, Sensei?” the Mikey asked.

“They’re just people,” the Donatello said.

"They’re dangerous!” Splinter exclaimed. “It’s not safe!”

“But they’re our friends!” the Mikey said, walking around Splinter and hugging the legs of the towering apparitions of Casey and April as they lumbered to the front of the growing mob.              

“We’ve got to get in there and help him!” Leo called from behind the wall of pipes.

“How do we get to him?” Donatello asked walking up beside Leo as more pipes popped up in front of him.

"It’s not like we can go around!” Casey said.

“But maybe,” Leo mused, “we can go over the top! Raph, give me a boost!” Raph knelt on the floor and hoisted Leo up as he grabbed the edge of one of the pipes. Instantly the pipe began to grow, shooting toward the ceiling, Quickly Leo pulled up himself up and over the top before gripping the pole on the other side, just as the top of the pipe slammed into the ceiling. Seeing no other impediment, Leo slowly began to shimmy his way down the pipe.  

“You were envious of how they were able to so smoothly interact and assimilate into the human world while you toiled in your fear and cowardice in the sewers below. Instead of wanting to be more like them, opening and trusting, you wished in the deepest depths of your heart that they would become more like you, closed off and afraid. Then they would come back to you. Then they would rely on you just like they had oh so long ago.”

“No, that’s not true!” Splinter shouted frantically into the smoke-filled ether above.

“You would strip them of society and consequently strip them of what made your sons unique and prosperous. You would strip them of their very identity!”

“Sensei,” the Leo said, his voice monotone. Splinter quickly whipped around and saw his four sons standing in a row, their arms anchored to their sides, their expressions lifeless. “Instead of going topside, can you teach us more taijutsu techniques, we only practiced for ten hours yesterday.

“For there is no time for anything else,” the Donatello said crushing the circuit board in his hand without breaking his unblinking gaze from Splinter.

“Under your watch,” the Raph said.

“Under your care,” the Mikey said, letting the cake in his hands fall to the ground.

“No no,” Splinter said, rushing forward to pick the cake off the ground. “We can still have fun; we can still be a normal family!” Splinter tried to force open Mikey’s palm to hold the squashed remains of the dessert but it merely slipped through the turtle’s loose fingers, falling to the floor once again. 

“We are a family,” the Leo said. “Together, forever in the sewers.”

“Why would we say anything otherwise,” the Mikey said as Splinter watched in horror as the skin around Mikey’s mouth began to bubble, creating a seal over his lips.  

“Or want to see anything beyond the walls of our home?” the Raph said as smooth skin sealed over his eyes.

“No, this is not what I wanted,” Splinter cried.

“Envy invokes dark desires,” Reverend Rimmon said, “ones that instill a want to see the ones you love suffer for your own personal satisfaction, to slash the world from beneath them to make yourself feel less entrenched in the deep hole of jealousy and despair in which you unknowingly thrive.”

Splinter took a step back as he stared at his rigid songs, their faces featureless and the green of their skin fading to a bland, clammy gray.

“Freaks,” a voice whispered from the mob behind Splinter. “Freaks, freaks, freaks!” His chant grew louder as they all began to point toward the unmoving turtles.

“Monsters!”

“Demons!”

“Freaks!” The crowd slowly moved forward, prompting Splinter to step between them and his sons.

“No, stay back you fiends!” Splinter called. As the mob bore down on Splinter, he saw a sudden flash out of the corner of his eye. Turning he saw the glint of katanas as Leo rushed forward and slashed at the knees of a towering librarian. The apparition let out a blood-curdling scream before dissipating into black smoke.

“Leonardo!” Splinter said. “But, how…?”

 “You have to fight back!” Leo said, cutting through the Casey and April figures as Raph and Mikey rushed forward to help. Splinter remained frozen in place as his Donatello joined his other sons as they fought the crowd of giants. Suddenly, he felt a presence behind him and as he turned, he saw that the featureless forms of his sons behind him now loomed twenty feet in the air.

“Is this what you want!” the Raph said, his voice seemingly coming from nowhere.

“They’re not real!” Leo called again.

“You did this to us!” the Donatello said.

“You monster!” the Mikey said.

“You freak!” the Leo said. Splinter clenched his fists.

“You are not my sons!” Splinter shouted as he leaped forward and landed a flying kick in the middle of the Leo’s chest, causing the apparition to stumble backward before vanishing from sight. Splinter jumped out of the way as the Mikey reached down to grab him but landed a series of blows along his neck causing him to fall to the ground in a puff of smoke. The Donatello raised his foot into the air to squash Splinter, but Splinter took the opportunity to wrap his tail around the turtle’s other foot, pulling it out from underneath him. As the Donatello fell to his demise, Splinter ran and jumped up onto the back of the Raph. The apparition swung left and right, trying to shake Splinter off, but to no avail. Splinter grabbed the broad tails of the Raph’s bandana and pulled back, causing the Raph to teeter backward onto the cement ground.

Splinter turned and saw the turtles, Casey, and April slash through the last of the demonic mob. As soon as their last piercing screams echoed off the walls, the smoke pumping into the air and coating the floor began to dissipate. Even the pipes themselves began to vanish, leaving them all in a vacate concrete room. A slightly screeched filtered through the air as the door to the hallway, no resting on ground level, slowly opened letting light pour into the room. Everyone stood motionless, their chests heaving before Mikey broke the silence.

“Sensei!” he cried, rushing forward and hugging Splinter so hard he nearly toppled over.

“Michelangelo,” Splinter chuckled softly, hugging the turtle tight. Quickly Leo, Raph, Donnie, April, and Casey all rushed over wrapping their arms around Splinter in a moment of triumph.

“We did it!” Mikey cheered.

“Everyone is here and accounted for,” April said.

“Not to state the obvious, but we still need to get the hell out of here!” Donnie said.

“Everyone, to the door, now!” Leo shouted, taking off toward the door. A renewed sense of relief and hope welled up within him as he approached the door and the glimmering hallway outside. A smile spread across his face as he burst through the doorway, though it quickly vanished. Before him was a small table with a single lamp perched on top of it. Surrounding the doorway was a wall of smoke. Leo heard a creak as he turned around and saw the door slam behind him, just as Raph and the others were about to venture through. Leo grabbed the handle and tried to pull the door open.

“Raph, Mikey, Sensei!” Leo called, but his efforts were to no avail. A chill rain down his spine as the door slowly melded into the wall itself and a familiar chuckle filtered into his ear. Leo whipped around, drawing his katanas as he saw the shadowy form of Reverend Rimmon emerge from the wall of smoke. 

“Oh, Leonardo,” Reverend Rimmon mused. “I am most impressed.” Leo took a shaky step back as Reverend Rimmon took one step closer to him then another and another, his dark presence seeming to press into Leo like the broiling heat of a roaring flame. “You have managed to save your friends and family from their torment.”

“Let us go, Rimmon,” Leo said, trying to hide to hide the fear form his voice.

“You think you have proven yourself? I told you that you would be tested. I told you that you would face your demons.” Before Leo could react, a dozen black tendrils emerged from the floor, wrapping around his arms and legs. He tried to struggle, but to no avail, as they pressed in on his form. Slowly, a tendril rose up in front of him. “Now is the time, my reptilian friend. Now is the time.” The tendrils slammed into Leo’s face, knocking him out cold.

~~~~~

A sharp shiver ran down Leo’s spine, arousing him from sleep. He opened his eyes and tried to sit up but found he couldn’t. He tried wiggling his arms and jostling his legs but felt cool, metallic binds around his wrists and ankles. A similar bound was wrapped across his torso, while a metallic dome surrounded the top of his head, anchoring him in place in the dark space he found himself in. He was stuck in place. Just like in the alley. Just like in front of the television. He was frozen.

Leo’s heart pounded in his chest as he took in a quick sharp breathes. His eyes darted about the swirling smoke above him. The blackness. The emptiness beyond. He couldn’t see anything. He was powerless. He was alone. A sense of utter isolation and loneliness washed over him from head to toe, causing his legs to seize and his arms to lock in place; he was starting to panic. Where was he? What was going on? Why him? Why now? Leo wanted to pretend like he didn’t know the answers as a soft chuckle echoed about him. Leo tried to turn his head as he heard footsteps approaching from behind as Reverend Rimmon’s face appeared in his line of sight. Smoke danced along his shoulders and limbs, his form melding with the shifting demonic smog around him.  

“Are you shocked by the predicament you find yourself in, Leonardo? Powerless and completely at the mercy of forces beyond your control?” Leo jolted in his binds as the upper portion of the table below him slowly began to rise, angling him toward the ground. “You’re all alone in here. No one’s here to help you. No one is here to save you.”

“My brothers will. Splinter will. Casey and April will,” Leo said, his voice hoarse.

“Oh, will they? After everything that you’ve put them through?”

“But I...” Leo said.

“You what? Saved them from a mess you are responsible for to begin with?” Reverend Rimmon bellowed. He slammed his hands down on the table beside Leo’s head; the vibrations echoed in Leo’s ears like the throngs of a church bell ringing in the new year.  “You’re the one that failed to act on your suspicious from the very beginning. You’re the one who failed to stop me from being summoned. You even clammed up the moments after your family was taken. You were weak and powerless, incapable of heroics; unwilling to act. Despite every opportunity to do the right thing, to stand up and take action against the literal essence of evil, you stayed back, shackled by inaction, by your sloth, and look what it’s done. Your friends and family have had to endure manifestations of their darkest fears, the most devious of their transgressions, the most heinous of their sins. All of that torment and anguish could have been avoided if not for you. If not for you standing by, idle and indecisive.” Reverend Rimmon leaned in close to Leo.

“Do you think Raphael would have just watched as Rimmon began chanting the ancient scripture? Do you think Michelangelo would have let his suspicions go and not investigated the basement when he had a chance? Do you think Donatello, or Casey, or April, or your father would have allowed any of this to happen? No, they would have acted and been true heroes. Not like you, a false savior, who merely stopped the vulnerable from being slaughtered with the very weapons you provided in the first place. You are the problem, Leonardo. You are a fraud. You’re worthless and your friends and family are better off without you putting them in danger at every turn.” Reverend Rimmon brushed a hand along Leo’s cheek.

“You deserve this, Leonardo, a forgotten immobilized husk destined to be alone from now until the end of…”  

“Leo!” A voice echoed about the room. Reverend Rimmon bolted upright, a snarl forming on his face. 

“Leo! Leo! Where are you?” Mikey’s voice echoed from the distance. 

“Mikey, cut that out,” Raph’s voice chastised.

“How else are we supposed to find him?” Mikey replied.

“You’re going to give away our position,” Donnie said, his voice drawing nearer. “Besides, it’s not like we’re going to just walk in and…” Suddenly, from an alcove on the far side of the room, Leo saw Raph appear followed by Mikey and Donnie and Splinter and Casey and April. The group froze as they locked eyes with Leo and Reverend Rimmon as he turned to face them.

“Leo!” Mikey said.

“Mikey, wait,” Raph said.

“You fools,” Reverend Rimmon said.

“Let him go you… you… you fiend!” Casey shouted.

“Is that the best you could come up with?” Donnie muttered.

“We’ve beaten you once, we’ll beat you again!” April shouted.

“You all think you’ve won? You think that just because you escaped from my little games that you have what it takes to defeat me? My friends, you are sorely mistaken!” Reverend Rimmon chuckled before throwing his arms out to the side. Instantly a line of torches lining the walls ignited filling the room with an orange flickering glow. Billowing streaks of fire crisscrossed along the floor, slicing between the turtles, Splinter, April, and Casey. Mikey and Donnie jumped to the side as the wall of fire licked at their heels. They grabbed their weapons from their belts a shadowy form appeared in the fire. Donnie’s heart skipped a beat as a blanked-eyed April emerged from the flames, her frame looming and her hands stretched into dagger-like claws.

“Uh, Donnie,” Mikey said as a second and third April emerged behind the first. After a chorus of ear-splitting screeches, the trio of Aprils rushed forward. Donnie pushed Mikey out of the way of a swiping attack from the first April sending him sprawling through a wall of fire. As Mikey turned back around, he felt something drip onto his shoulder. Looking up he saw a large, bubbling cauldron above his head. He jumped out of the way just in time before a thick stream of boiling soup was poured out and onto the ground beside him. He didn’t have much time to rest as a wave of sharp-toothed fish heads streamed out of the pot, snapping at Mikey’s heels and he sprinted away. While looking over his shoulder, Mikey slammed into the side of one of the Aprils bearing down on Donnie, sending her sprawling in a puff of smoke. Mikey didn’t stop and hopped through an opening in the flames, only to find April being pulled and tugged from seven different directions by a mob of his brothers.

“Tell me what to do April!” A Leonardo apparition said clawing at her arm.

“Bestow upon us your wisdom, April!” A Donnie figure said, yanking April to the side.

“April!” Mikey cried as he rushed forward and body slammed two of the Raph figures away. He then ducked behind a lumbering Splinter apparition who was immediately torn to shreds by the gnawing fish heads. Mikey knocked the other figures back, releasing April.

“Thanks, Mikey,” April said, grabbing her tanto and slashing at the crowd around her. Mikey tumbled to the side and turned to face his fishy assailants. Swinging his nunchucks, he methodically bashed through each head one by one as they slashed by his face and torso. When the last head burst into smoke, Mikey was about to celebrate but he then noticed some large looming overhead in the distance. A second later, as it drew nearer, Mikey saw that the approaching cloud was comprised of enormous spaghetti and meatballs. Before he could react, the thick noodles bolted down and wrapped around his arms and legs.

“Michelangelo!” Splinter called, rushing over and slashing at the pasta with his claws.

“Thanks, Sensei,” Mikey said, giving his father a warm smile that quickly turned to a look of horror. Splinter followed Mikey’s gaze behind him and saw a pair of Raph figures, faceless and gray looming over the wall of fire. Before Splinter could react, one of them picked Splinter up, crushing his torso to the point he was struggling for air. Mikey readied his nunchucks but saw Casey and whip by, trying to slash at the apparition’s knees. Just as Mike was about to jump forward and help, he felt something slammed into his back. As he went sprawling to the floor, he saw Raph tumbling along with him. Mikey quickly hopped up to his feet and pulled Raph up from the floor.

“You okay, bro?” Mikey asked, but Raph didn’t answer. He stared straight passed his brother with his jaw clenched as he gripped his sais. Mikey turned and saw a manifestation of himself pop out of the flames, which caused him to pause. When he saw the apparition’s red glowing eyes and snarled lips, he also readied himself and leaped forward with Raph.

Leo struggled against his binds. He could hear the clash of metal weapons, the demonic screams of vanquished foes, and the grunts of his battling brothers, but the walls of fire surrounded his shackled table; he couldn’t see anything. Sweat dripped from his brow as he endured the growing heat. Then, from the flame, he saw a growing, shadowy outline. A second later, Raph burst into view.

“Leo!” Raph shouted as Donnie emerged right behind him. “How do we get him out, Don?” Donnie quickly examined the brackets around Leo’s ankles.

“The good ol’ fashioned way,” Donnie said, raising his bo staff into the air and slamming it hard on the weak edge of the shackle, knocking it free. Donnie moved toward Leo’s torso as Raph raised his sais to strike at the bond around Leo’s other ankle, but as he did so another figure appeared in the flames behind him. A moment later, Raph was knocked to the side as Reverend Rimmon emerged, a wicked smile spread ear-to-ear across his face. Raph went sprawling across the floor as the reverend sent Donnie flying backward as well, just as he released Leo’s wrist.  

“Degenerate mutants,” Reverend Rimmon scoffed as he strolled by Leo toward the groaning turtles on the ground. “I think it’s about time to end all of this, once and for all!” Leo’s eyes grew wide as he saw the reverend’s hands start to glow. He needed to do something, and do it now! With his free hand, he wiggled free one of his katanas and slashed as his other wrist restraint. When it burst open he sat up, freeing his other ankle and jumped down to the floor. His legs wobbled for a second, but he quickly regained his balance and turned toward the reverend. He was standing over Raph and Donnie’s twitching forms, cackling. As Reverend Rimmon raised his glowing hand in the air Leo rushed forward and landed a kick in the small of his back. The reverend roared as his torso contorted and his suit jacket splayed open. In the chaos, Leo saw something slip out of the reverend’s inner jacket pocket, landing on the ground next to Donnie as he slowly got to his knees. Reverend Rimmon turned to Leo, his face contorted as crackling flames licked across his cheeks and brows.

“You worthless, vile abomination!” The reverend cried, swinging his arm and sending a wave of black smoke toward Leo, knocking him back against the edge of the metal slab. As Donnie got to his feet, he picked up the book. He quickly opened the cover and began to scroll through the pages, looking amongst the strange markings and symbols. He knew it would be impossible to know which was right but he had to…. Suddenly Donnie froze as he turned a page. A sudden sense of power washed over him that seemed to counteract the dark energy from the demon in front of him. Some of the smoke in the air around him seemed drawn into the pages themselves as if being sucked back to whence they came; this had to be it!

“I’ve got it!” Donnie cried, turning toward Leo and the reverend. Reverend Rimmon turned and with inhuman speed rushed Donnie, knocking the book out of his hand and sending him flying backward.

“Fool,” Reverend Rimmon said but just as he was about to shut the book, Raph lunged at him from the side, sending the two toppling through a wall of fire and letting the book drop to the floor again. Leo slowly got to his feet and hobbled over to the tome and picked it up. His heart pounded in his chest as his breath seemed to be ripped from his lungs.

“Do it, Leo!” Raph called from beyond the fire. Leo heard a loud grunt as a large, swirling ball of black smoke expanded on the other side of the fire. In an instant the wall of fire whipped to the side as Reverend Rimmon, his hands clenched, faced Leo. A tangled mash of smoky tendrils whipped back and forth behind him.

“Put down the book, Leonardo,” Reverend Rimmon said as he slowly moved toward Leo. Leo hesitated as the demon’s tendrils flew out to the side, engulfing Raph and Donnie. Several other tendrils whipped out behind the reverend and a moment later Leo heard the cries of the others as they fell prey to the demonic hold. “I can take them away again, Leo. I can make them disappear forever. Is that what you want? Do you want to be responsible for your entire family’s demise?” Leo knew this was a trick, but as he looked down at the ancient pages before him, his voice caught in his throat. “Oh, what’s this? Are you clamming up, just like you always do when your friends and family need you most? You’re useless. You’re pathetic!”

Leo closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Images of his brothers, his father, and his friends fluttered into his mind. He wouldn’t let them suffer under his watch. He couldn’t let them suffer. He had to step up. He had to end this! Leo opened his eyes and with renewed confidence gazed upon the page before him. To his shock, the markings seemed to morph, rearranging until English letters began to form. He could do this!

“I’m warning you, Leonardo!” Reverend Rimmon shouted, raising his glowing hand. “Stop!”

“You’re too late!” Leo called. Reverend Rimmon let out a shriek as he flung a wall of smoke toward Leo, but just before it slammed into him, it froze. The smoke cascaded around Leo like he was parting the sea. “Fiendish being who hath brought sin and suffering to this world, I hereby halt your passage here amongst us mortals. Begone from this realm, unholy creature and return to the burning pits of hellish fire from whence you!” Instantly, the reverend dropped to his knees.

“No!” He cried as the flames in the room began to recede. They moved toward the center of the room, forming a burning pentagram. Beneath it, a black, gaping hole emerged that began to suck up the churning smoke around them. Leo braced himself against the gusting rush as the dark presence in the air was drained into the black pit. All the demonic apparitions were sucked up into the ethereal gale, pulled screeching into the depths below. The pit continued to widen until Reverend Rimmon was knelt along its precarious edge. His torso wrenched backward as dark energy poured out of his mouth, nostrils, and eyes. The black tendrils dissipated, dropping the others to the floor as they gasped for air. Reverend Rimmon let out one final scream as the last of the demon’s presence was ripped from his body and siphoned away. Reverend Rimmon’s form then went limp.

“Wait!” Leo cried as he saw the reverend’s body roll forward, but there was nothing he could do when he saw the reverend’s body collapse forward into the pit too. A loud demonic scream echoed up from the pit before a bright flash bathed the room in light. In the next instant, everything went black. Everything went silent. Everything went still.

~~~~~

Water dripped from the rooftop overhead as Leo opened the front door. He shielded his eyes from the rising sun on the horizon, bringing much-needed worth to the soaked gardens and greens about the estate. Leo grunted as he wrapped Raph’s arm across his shoulder, helping his brother saunter out into the warm morning light. Mikey and Donnie followed them while Splinter and April helped Casey as he limped forward. They were all quiet, taking in the soft chirping of birds as they fluttered along the scattered puddles along the walkway. Everything was peaceful. Everything was calm. Just as it was meant to be. As they made their way toward the Shellraiser, Leo turned over his shoulder toward the Rimmon mansion. It looked just as stoic and pristine as it had when they arrived; there was no evidence of the horrors they had all endure that night. No one would ever know.

 _Good,_ Leo thought as he slid open the Shellrazer door and ushered everyone inside. Leo strapped into the driver seat and slowly backed down the driveway. As he pulled onto the roadway, he glanced over his shoulder. Despite everyone’s weary demeanor, Leo took solace in the fact that everyone was accounted for. Everyone was safe. Everyone was here. Leo resisted the urge to reach out and simply touch each of his brothers, father, and friends, just to prove to himself again that they were all here and real. Even after facing their most perilous foe, even after they had all been ripped away from him, they were together again. Together despite their individual flaws and shortcomings. Together because they chose to be. Together because they cared.

A content smile spread Leo’s face as he focused back on the road.

_Together as a family._


End file.
